Almost half of employment in science, engineering, engineering and mathematics jobs is concentrated in the municipalities of Madrid and Catalonia, and the national average for this type of work is 8.46 percent of the total, compared to 7.99 percent in La Rioja.
The greater presence of these jobs in Madrid and Catalonia creates a “regional polarization” that will create new problems of inequality between regions in the long term, according to a study by the Quarterly Labor Market Observatory, produced by the EY-Sagardoy Institute. has gone. of Talent and Innovation, BBVA Research and Foundation for Applied Economics Studies (FEDEA).
The study analyzing the growth of the labor market since April 2022 and published this Thursday shows that Madrid accounts for 27.41% of these jobs and Catalonia 21.21%, Andalusia (11.59%) and the Valencian Community (7, 55%) put . , Basque Country (6.55%), Galicia (4.59%) and Castile and León (3.43%).
In Madrid, these professions represent 14.68% of the labor market, in the Basque Country 12.13%, in Catalonia 10.43%, in Navarre 9.04% and in Asturias 8.53% (average 8.46%), while they are represented in the Canary Islands. 3.99%, 4.74% in the Balearic Islands and 4.85% in Extremadura.
In the case of La Rioja, these professions represent 7.99% of the labor market, which in Spain represents 0.66% of the labor market in these regions.
Raquel Sebastian, professor at the Complutense University of Madrid, pointed out in the presentation of the study that “Spain is still a long way from creating STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) jobs at the pace of the European Union, but as a result of the crisis.” The trend is beginning to turn very positive.
Regarding the accumulation of these jobs in Madrid, Catalonia and Andalusia, he warns that in the long term this will “result in problems of inequality in Spain between regions”, “two poles of employment, very few and very high quality” and that would be “in 10 years a region far away from the centers of job creation”.
“Inside Spain we are disintegrating, there are communities that are doing well and others that are far away,” he said.
The report confirms that job growth has accelerated in STEM and high-tech sectors, which were least affected by the economic crisis triggered by the pandemic and have since increased their share of employment.