More women, more youth and more technology: these are the challenges facing the industrial sector.

The latest Labour Force Survey (EPA), carried out by the INE, shows a boom in employment in industry: specifically, this sector has increased by a total of 93,500 jobs in 2023. However, employment has fallen: there are now 11,200 fewer Spaniards working in this sector. This loss of personnel and increase in the labour supply shows that this sector faces a major challenge: attracting young talent. In this regard, according to the latest data from the Ministry of Labour and Social Economy, during the first quarter of 2023, 330,000 young people aged between 16 and 29 were working in the industry. While this figure has increased compared to the first quarter of 2022, the overall trend is downward: in 2008 the total number of young people in industry was 742,300.

With the aim of promoting the training and internationalisation of young talent in sectors such as industry, the Ministry of Industry, Trade and Tourism has promoted the ICEX Vives Project. Some of the objectives of this initiative are to generate employment, make it easier for companies to attract young talent and promote gender equality. In this regard, it should be noted that one of the challenges facing the industrial sector is to incorporate more female profiles in their workforces. According to the latest data from Statista, in 2022, 16.4% of men will be working in industry, while the percentage of women will fall to 7.5%.