Whereas the unemployment figures in Spain are reaching record numbers and exceed 5 million unemployed persons during the last quarter, according to the official figure of the Minister of Employment and Social Security, employment in cooperatives as a whole, has grown by 7.2%, or 19.602 newly created jobs in one quarter.
This growth is particularly evident in worker cooperatives and in one of their principle sectors of services, with an increase of 7.5% and 12.890 newly created jobs, during the course of the last quarter.
“It is clearly demonstrated that worker cooperatives constitute an important option for the creation of jobs which governments should take into account in the development of local economy”, Juan Antonio Pedreño comments, President of the Spanish Confederation of Worker Cooperatives (Coceta).
“It has always been this way,” he insists, “but this reality manifests itself with more force during times of crisis, at the point where cooperatives are capable of creating jobs whereas other entrepreneurial forms destroy them; and this is true, even if they have to face a less favourable environment in terms of accessing finance”.
The data as far as the growth in cooperatives is concerned, is in general, positive and very different according to each self-sufficient community.
The community of Valencia, for example, sets itself apart with a quarterly growth of 31% and 11.286 newly created jobs.
