The end of the pandemic and the restrictions caused by Covid have reduced the percentage of people who regularly work from home, but even so, the pre-pandemic levels are still three points higher.
In any case, over the last year, the number of employees covered by a remote work agreement has multiplied, but the price crisis is working against it, because it is blocking a large part of the agreements via collective bargaining.
All these remote work agreements are of particular importance to large companies, and with profiles of highly qualified workers, with better salaries and an average age between 35 and 54 years, compared to more precarious sectors that are far from the benefits of teleworking.
If we review the chronology, in October 2020 the Ministry of Labor established an agreement between employers and unions to create a new Remote Work Law, under the maxim that the costs of this practice cannot fall into the pockets of employees, and that therefore, companies must be responsible for providing them with the necessary means.
In October 2021, 3% of workers are covered by a collective agreement in force that regulates remote work rights. And in October 2022, 9% of employees telework regularly, according to data that the Ministry of Labor provided to the newspaper “El Periódico”.
This percentage rises to 12% if the data from the latest active population survey (EPA) of the INE is taken as a reference. And according to calculations by the Bank of Spain, teleworking levels have a long way to go and almost three times more employees could work from home if companies with the means to offer this modality did so. But it seems that the reluctance of companies to assume new costs is the main obstacle for companies.