in World News Spain: Over 71% of New Jobs in the Last 5 Years Went to Foreigners as Young Spaniards Emigrate at Alarming Rates
Reflecting broader labor trends across Europe and the Western world, Spain is increasingly a country where native-born young people, facing limited job opportunities, often choose to emigrate, while foreigners—primarily from Asia and the Global South—continue to occupy a growing share of positions.
The numbers paint a stark picture: from 2019 to 2024, a staggering 71.4% of newly created jobs went to foreign workers, according to a study by the Foundation for Applied Economic Studies (Fedea).
Jesús Vega, former HR director at the Spanish multinational clothing company Inditex and Banco Santander, a multinational financial service company, expressed deep concern over this trend in a recent interview with El Debate.
“We are importing waiters and bricklayers while exporting doctors and engineers,” Vega lamented. “It’s a tragedy because we have spent a fortune training them, and they represent the great talent on which the country and the concentration of high-value-added companies depend.”
Spain’s neoliberal labor policies, he argued, are effectively pushing out the well-paying jobs that could truly benefit the economy.
Currently, foreign workers comprise 20.7% of Spain’s labor force, with a strong presence in sectors such as hospitality, construction, and low-skilled labor. In recent years, some have also moved into technical fields. This trend largely reflects the lower average education levels of many incoming migrants compared to native Spaniards.