Your Trusted Partner for Recruitment in Spain

To better fulfill your recruitment needs, we at Remote People are here to help you find top talent in Spain more effectively than recruiting on your own. Our team understands the local language, customs, and the intricacies of the Spanish talent market, giving you a significant advantage in securing the right candidates.

We know where to advertise your job openings to ensure maximum exposure and attract the best talent. Additionally, we assist in designing competitive, locally-appropriate compensation packages that not only appeal to top candidates but also help you optimize costs. 

Get in touch with us to navigate Spain’s recruitment landscape with confidence and ease.

Key takeaways

  • Spain’s economy is growing faster than Europe’s average.
  • Spanish workers enjoy some of the best protections in the world.
  • Service is the biggest sector of the Spanish economy and its largest employment area.
  • International recruitment agencies can be of significant help when hiring employees in Spain. 
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Olé! Spain’s economy is set to show some of the biggest growth in Europe in 2024. Reaching $1.462 billion, the country’s GDP is expected to increase by 2.1% this year and up to 1.9% in 2025. Spain features highly in tourism and services and both of these industries are currently seeing an increase that’s helping to drive this growth. At the same time, Spain’s unemployment rate is continuing to drop. While still high at 11.6%, this is way down from 2013’s peak of 26% and shows that Spanish workers are now in greater demand.

All of this is good news for employers. If you’re looking to start a business in Spain, inflation is dropping, and the economy is growing. If you want to hire Spanish workers to work for you remotely, there’s a big talent pool looking for employment. All of this adds up to a very good time to recruit Spanish employees for your business.

Overview of Spain Recruitment Industry

Spain has a long history of labor unions and collective bargaining that has resulted in some of the world’s best protections for workers. At the same time, Spanish law also protects employers from collective bargaining agreements that specifically disadvantage them. With over three million unemployed workers in the country right now, however, employers may have opportunities to find top talent and negotiate to their advantage. 

Spain’s economy is dominated by the service sector, which employs about 76% of the working population. This includes tourism, banking and finance, health care, education, and more. The industrial sector employs about 20% of Spaniards and contributes 20.8% of GDP. Spain is the second-largest automotive manufacturer in Europe, and other main industries include textiles, food processing, engineering, and steel production. A small part of the workforce, 4%, is involved in agriculture.

Spanish workers tend to be friendly and relaxed at work and are less stuffy and formal than some of their European neighbors. Unusually, they generally work two periods each day, one from 9 am until 2 pm and the other from 5 pm to 8 pm. The period in between, colloquially called a ‘siesta’, sees workers take a long, leisurely lunch and rest but then return to work until late evening.

Most Spanish firms have moved their recruitment online using social media to promote their businesses through outbound recruiting practices. They also post their job openings on popular job sites like Infojobs, Indeed, Jooble, and Empléate, the government-run job portal. At the same time, networking and word-of-mouth strategies still help many companies find recruits. Other firms use global recruitment agencies and even Employer of Record companies to help them find new hires.

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Having trouble finding top talent in Spain? Partner with us; our expert headhunters will connect you to the right candidates to accelerate your growth.

  • Spain Hiring Expertise: Remote People provides tailored recruitment solutions to meet the unique demands of recruiting professionals in Spain.
  • Efficient Talent Sourcing: We identify highly qualified candidates quickly, streamlining the process for businesses operating in Spain.
  • Affordable Solutions: We offer competitive rates, making it easier for companies to secure top talent while managing costs effectively.
  • Spain Recruitment & EOR: We combine recruitment services with Employer of Record (EOR) support, simplifying both hiring and compliance in Spain.

Get a Customized Recruitment Strategy for Spain Today!

Benefits of Recruiting in Spain

Why recruit Spanish workers? Some of the advantages include:

Language

The Spanish Empire held possessions all over South and Central America, Africa, and Asia. This history has left a linguistic mark on the world, and Spanish is both widespread and the #2 most spoken language in the world. In addition, roughly 22% of the population speaks English.

Diversity

Spain’s colonial past attracts people from around the world back to Spain. This makes the country highly diverse, with people from hundreds of cultural and ethnic backgrounds adding to Spain’s labor force.

Education and Skills

Over 46% of Spanish workers have higher education certificates which is far higher than the 39% European average. These are skilled and educated workers who can create competitive advantages for your businesses.

Foothold in Europe

Setting up a business in Spain can be a great first step to expanding into the rest of Europe.

Legal Considerations When Recruiting in Spain

When you decide to start recruiting employees in other countries, it’s essential to remember that their labor laws might be similar but won’t be exactly the same as what you’re used to. When it comes to Spanish workers, it’s a good idea to familiarize yourself with local laws, especially the Labour and Social Security Code (Código Laboral y de la Seguridad Social) as well as EU regulations since Spain is a member of this union. Important legal considerations include:

Personal Information

When recruiting potential employees, employers are only allowed to information relevant to their suitability. This means that looking at personal preferences, social media history, background checks, and affiliations are normally off-limits.

Anti-discrimination

Employers are forbidden from discrimination based on an applicant or employee’s sex, gender expression, sexual orientation, maternity, age, disability, race, ethnicity, marital status, social condition, or language. Women and men must receive equal pay for equal work.

Trade Unions

Trade unions are common in Spain, and about 14% of workers are union members. However, as many as 70% of workers are covered by collective bargaining agreements that help to dictate the conditions of their social payments, job classification details, and training. 

Working Hours and Overtime

Spanish workers currently work 40 hours per day, though there are plans in place to reduce this to 37.5 hours/week in 2025. Overtime in Spain is always voluntary, and workers can’t work more than 80 hours of overtime in a year. Overtime hours must be paid at a higher rate than regular hours or compensated with time off.  The usual overtime rate in Spain is 175% of normal wages.

Spanish workers are entitled to 30 calendar days (22 or 23 working days) per year. They also receive 14 paid national holidays, possibly more in some regions. Maternity leave is a full 16 weeks in Spain and paternity leave now matches it at 16 weeks as well.

Contracts and Termination

Contracts can be permanent or fixed-term. Contracts can be terminated by the employer for objective or disciplinary reasons, in which case, the employer must give 15 days’ notice. For technical, production, or economic reasons, employers don’t need to give notice for collective terminations.

Choosing a Recruitment Agency in Spain

Spain has a large population of 47.5 million people. When you go looking for a recruitment agency to help you hire some of them, you’ll find hundreds if not thousands of agencies to choose from. However, only a handful will be able to fulfill your recruitment needs with a high degree of professionalism. To narrow your search, consider these factors:

Fees

Set your budget, and don’t bother with agencies charging more than you can afford. At the same time, beware of bargain-basement firms, as they probably won’t be able to provide all of the services your company requires. Look for agencies in your budget who are open and transparent about their fees so you don’t end up with any surprises.

Experience

Well-established recruitment agencies are great for two reasons. They’ve normally built up large talent pools they can quickly draw from. They’ve seen all the potential problems that could happen in recruiting and know how to solve them.

Reputation

Look at ratings and read detailed reviews from past employees and client companies who’ve used an agency’s services. This will give you an accurate picture of how well they treat employees and match them to the needs of their clients.

Security

When you work with a recruitment agency, you may need to share some of your sensitive data with them. Ask them about their data security protocols to ensure they’re up to your standards. This will help to prevent leaks that could result in penalties or a serious loss of competitive advantages for your company.

Recruiting Spanish Employees

Spain is a diverse country that is seeing a period of economic growth and reduced unemployment in 2024. This makes now a great time to get your business set up in Spain or recruit Spanish employees to work remotely. With high education levels, great skills, and valuable language abilities, Spanish employees can be great assets for your business.

Accomplishing successful hiring of global employees is extremely important. The problem is that most firms don’t speak the local language, don’t understand the local culture and don’t know the best sources for the placement of advertisements. This is where a recruitment agency in Spain can help you hire the talent you need much more effectively than recruiting on your own. They can also help you put together compensation packages that are appropriate and attractive enough to help your firm get the very best talent possible.

Recruit Top Talent Across Europe with Our Recruitment Expertise

Navigating the complexities of hiring and workforce management across different countries can be challenging. Partnering with a reliable recruitment agency ensures you stay compliant with local labor laws, streamline the hiring process, and secure top talent. Learn how Remote People can help you recruit in the following countries:

Recruitment Agencies in Europe
Andorra Austria Azerbaijan
Belgium Bosnia and Herzegovina Bulgaria
Croatia Cyprus Czech Republic
Denmark Estonia Finland
France Germany Greece
Greenland Hungary Iceland
Ireland Italy Kosovo
Latvia Liechtenstein Lithuania
Luxembourg Malta Mayotte
Moldova Monaco Montenegro
Netherlands North Macedonia Norway
Poland Portugal Romania
San Marino Slovakia Slovenia
Spain Sweden Switzerland
Turkey Ukraine United Kingdom

Ready to tackle recruitment  from Spain? Remote People can help.

Contact us today and we can discuss your recruitment needs and help you meet your recruitment objectives.