Employing in Spain
 

Good day to you all
I am look to move from the UK my small Technical Call Centre to Spain.
We have about 10 full time and 3 part time staff .
Most of my staff is leaving so we are recruiting new staff in Spain.

Question
What are the Spanish employment laws like?
Employee contributions
Holiday entitlements etc.
Any help would be much appreciated

Thanks Mitch

Re: Employing in Spain
 

HI Mitch,

I have been self emplyed here now for over ten years.There is far to much to mention in one message. But I can tell you that it is expensive to set your company up,expensive to make employment contributions, usually around 250 per person per month, just on social security! and far to many bank holiday, usually religious festivals.
You best bet is to contact a ¨Gestor¨in the area you are moving to. This is somebody that will deal with all of your questions and be able to answer all of the points your are raising.
Good luck

Re: Employing in Spain
 

Hi Mitch
I cannot communicate with you via the PM system until you have clocked up at least 3 postings.
I can give you a little bit of info on this and some suggestions, which of course will be a little biased
rgds
Dom

Re: Employing in Spain
 

Welcome Mitch. As already advised, a local gestor is possibly the best person to approach, when you've decided on a location. You should also find resources fron this site (Invest in Spain) http://www.investinspain.org/icex/cd...9011_0,00.html A couple of other folk who have businesses in Spain, and are very helpful, are Pierre-Alban Waters (a Frenchman twitter @pierrewaters) who runs a "guiripreneur" meetup in Madrid, and Mauricio Sánchez Spitman who runs OjoInternet (Twitter @MSSpitman )

Do you have a certain location in mind? The majority of technical workers in Spain are likely to be found in Barcelona or Madrid, but costs are probably higher there. Plus it may be more difficult there to keep English-speaking workers - you didn't say why most of your staff are leaving. Do you pay below the market average, or is it just difficult work? My guess is that a city like Valencia would be ideal - you should find plenty of people wanting to work for you there, and it's an inexpensive city to live, so you can recruit from Brits willing to live a Med lifestyle. Malaga may also be a good option.
Also, try and contact Brits who work for techie companies in Spain, perhaps Softonic in Barcelona, or the folk working for this Anglo-Spanish startup http://uk.qustodian.com/web/our-team Or try asking the people who work at Moodyo (a Seville based startup) - they are friendly folk.

Another option - try talking to the people at the Web 2.0 recruitment specialists in Spain http://www.wiseri.com/ - especially the founder Marina Zalynzya a Polish entrepreneur who really knows her business. I'm sure she can help with a lot of the stuff regarding employment options (remember the current government is changing a lot in this area).

Lastly - look on LinkedIn - there are various groups eg Business in Spain, Friends of Spain etc., and you can join the appropriate group and ask questions there.

Re: Employing in Spain
 

What nationality are you? Sounds to me like you are setting yourself up for an expensive disaster sadly.

Re: Employing in Spain
 

Why do you say that? Sounds like he needs a location where he can find local people (whether Spanish or expat Brits) willing to commit to working for his technical call centre company. If Softonic can do it, why can't he?

Re: Employing in Spain
 

It costs far more to employ people in Spain than the UK and its is far more complicated , Language issues , employees rights , the list against it is endless.

Re: Employing in Spain
 

too many gloom and doom merchants on BE these days.

companies are moving to Spain, Portugal, Italy, Ireland, even the UK every day of the week. yes, there are others who are leaving, but all in all the balance is maintained or improving.
many major, international, companies have facilities in Spain, the larger the company the more pull and push they have with local and national authorities.
many entrepreneurs operate succcessful companies servicing local and internationals

if you arent happy with Spain then move somewhere else

Re: Employing in Spain
 

Depending on the expertise needed it might be worth considering the Campo de Gibraltar area - lots of IT and other technical expertise around here.

Re: Employing in Spain
 

True , and the smaller companies like the OP has dont stand a chance...like I said initially.

Many companies are moving somewhere else due to the short sighted crooks in Madrid .

Re: Employing in Spain
 

rotor, your one sided view of spain is generally well known, crooks exist in all countries and cities, not just those in spain. Funny that the biggest crooks appear to be in Brussels, where their annual accounts havent been approved by their auditors yet they still try to stop eu nations from providing enticements to companies who will bring work into areas that desperately need it.

but then thinking positive when it comes to living and working in spain is not something I expect from some in this forum, but their gloom and doom never seems to totally outweigh the brightness and optimism of the remainder

.

Re: Employing in Spain
 

well the new government are committed to changing many things - they've recently announced they're going to simplify the many different forms of contract when employing staff. Which is why I stated it may be a good idea talking to a recruitment place like wiseri.com - they will know the up-to-date stuff, and I'm sure they will be very helpful as they'll be hoping to do business with you if you re-locate to Spain.
Plenty of smaller operations have set up shop and prospered in Spain, such as BcnInternet.com, Rebuzzna Communications or even Wiseri (as mentioned earlier). 100s of language schools, and not a few Irish pubs in Madrid - you don't have to be a big company to start a business in Spain.

Re: Employing in Spain
 

A big player once told me if you want to make a small fortune in Spain you need to turn up with a large one.
The bottom line is if your business is working in the UK leave it there , if it isnt it wont in Spain , as as I said before it is more difficult here .

Im not being a monger of doom , just realistic , but then Ive only had 25 years in commerce :)

Re: Employing in Spain
 

Here's another resource you may find useful if starting up a business in Madrid

http://blog.tetuanvalley.com/about/our-locations

Re: Employing in Spain
 

and we all thought your gloom and doom was based on experience
otro novato
ho hum

i wonder what would happen if everyone took that attitude at the thought of expanding into the EU or specific markets.............