More faith in a friend than in a counselor: half of the unemployed turn to acquaintances to find a job

Finding a job when you are unemployed is an individual drama that many affected people try to resolve collectively. That is, turning to friends and family or the networking, former co-workers and contacts acquired during the professional stage. These are the most common behaviors among the Spanish unemployed.

The data collected by the INE Active Population Survey show that for every person who goes to a public office looking for a job, three appeal to a relative or their friends. In numbers for the fourth quarter of 2023: while 550,000 unemployed went to the State Public Employment Service (SEPE); 1.5 million asked for help from those around them (56% of the total).

Marta Navarro, 31 years old, completed professional training as a technician in auxiliary care and nursing in Murcia. Three years ago she became unemployed and registered as a job seeker in the public office, but with no luck. “I have always looked for employment on my own, SEPE has not helped me find one. In the end I have always looked for a life for myself,” she says. In fact, the first position she found was thanks, she says, to “pumping up” to send resumes. Last time, her VET tutor recommended her for an assistant position at a new nursing home she had opened. What’s more, she arranged for her to be selected directly along with a friend. She had to submit her resume, although she admits that it was a mere “formality,” because within 24 hours she was selected. The process was quick: they called her one day during the week, made an appointment for the interview the next day, and two or three hours later they told her that she had been selected. She now has another job as a warehouse girl. And she found him, she says, thanks to a neighbor of her boyfriend telling her that they were hiring at a logistics company, although she points out that “she didn’t get him to work there.” “I was the one who sent the resume,” she clarifies.

The preference for the contact list as a method of finding work calls into question the effectiveness of the SEPE, whose tasks include “managing the unemployment protection system and guaranteeing information on the labor market,” according to its letter of approval. services. “The insertion policy that is being carried out can clearly be improved,” warns Mari Cruz Vicente, Secretary of Union Action of CC OO. “It is also true that people go to these offices to leave their resume and do not sit and wait for them to call them,” she adds. “Public offices are not a reference place to find a job, they are not competitive,” adds Jorge Calviño, vice president of the Spanish Association of Human Resources Directors (AEDRH) and CHRO of AllFunds Bank. “Taking into account the social networks and job portals that exist, they have not been able to modernize,” he analyzes.

However, Cristina Estévez, Secretary of Institutional Policy and Territorial Policies of UGT, adds a nuance that justifies the bad data from the SEPE: “Although due to its state nature, it is the body that sets both the budget and the guidelines for active employment policies. Throughout the country – which the Government set at 2,803 million euros for 2023 – it is the provincial and regional services that have the powers to use that money. And there are some territories that use it to pay employee payroll or building renovations instead of using it for what they should,” she adds. According to the data managed by their union, this lack of dedication means that 92% of the unemployed have never received a job offer from the territorial employment services. “The long-term unemployed are the ones who most need long-term relief assistance,” states a recent report prepared by UGT.

Víctor C. has just found a job in Mérida (Extremadura). At 24 years old, he graduated in Psychology in 2021 and after completing two master’s degrees—the last just two weeks ago—he is about to join his new position. “I found an offer for a psychologist on InfoJobs, and on Monday they called me for an interview. I did it on Tuesday and on Wednesday they confirmed to me that he had been accepted,” he details. This is a temporary job, but full-time. Whenever he has needed a job he has looked for it through digital portals, or by sending his resume by email “to certain associations and foundations where friends work” and “where job offers came out.” He is from Berlanga (Badajoz) and before moving to the capital of Extremadura he has had jobs that had nothing to do with his vocation, and that, for various reasons, he has not been able to do. All of them thanks to close contacts. “I found out about an English academy teaching position from a friend’s mother, but in the end it couldn’t be done due to lack of students,” he says. “I also got a job as a waiter for a bar in my town, since the owner knew me and trusted me, but the bar is under construction and has not been able to open yet,” he adds. He recognizes that his circle of friends has helped him find jobs in his town, but not outside of it.

“Placements represent only a small part of the actions of public employment services. In fact, in many cases, intermediation occurs without an offer as such having been registered,” the Ministry of Labor indicates. “In any case, the data supports the work of these services, which goes far beyond direct intermediation. Training and improving employability allows many people to enter the labor market or climb the steps in their professional career,” they add.

According to the latest data managed by the department headed by Yolanda Díaz, in 2023, public services provided guidance to nearly four million people, of which more than 1.2 million were young people, and 2.8 million were women. At that time, more than one million of the people served signed an indefinite contract in the six months after being oriented by the public employment services; and another million found a job in the following 12 months.

The counterpoint to this lack of support from the SEPE is the fact that many companies do not seek to satisfy their labor needs in a visible way. “Between 70% and 80% of the vacancies that exist are filled in the hidden market,” says Trinidad Vega, Director of Operations at LHH, part of the Adecco Group. That is, companies prioritize the references they find on job portals or the recommendations they receive from their own workers over other talent search mechanisms. But there are more reasons: “By doing so, it is not necessary for them to open selection processes that could be costly in time and money, while at the same time they can maintain the confidentiality of their needs, either because they do not want to give visibility to their emergencies, or because they seek to replace a worker in a specific position without the need for the worker to know,” Vega completes.

Feeling of shame

Among the job search methods counted by the EPA is not the option to mark former coworkers or professional contacts. Precisely, the route most recommended by experts. “He networking It is key,” appeals Manuel Primo, director of the master’s degree in Human Resources management at the European University. “You have to move around a lot in the world of contacts, ask people you know, friends, companies… Go to job fairs or any day where you can leave your resume,” he adds. “Having a good network of contacts that allows you to access open positions or find out about vacancies that exist at a given time is essential,” adds Calviño.

Despite being clear about these guidelines, it often happens that going to third parties causes, in many cases, a feeling of shame in the plaintiffs. “It seems that asking for help has a bad press, because plugging away, the ‘I come recommended’, is a stigma; but the reality is that having a godfather is never a bad thing,” says Primo. “We must keep in mind that the person who recommends another person is risking his or her reputation, so it doesn’t seem like anything to me that he or she is playing against the interested party,” agrees Calviño.

A study on outplacement carried out by Adecco shows that those who make the most contacts are the older unemployed. “While only 26% of those under 30 years of age achieved employment thanks to their network of contacts, 45% of those over 50 years of age did so this way,” indicates the report, which justifies these results in the fact that those of younger age have a less extensive agenda due to their lack of experience in the market.

Job imbalance

However, age is not the only nuance when evaluating the effectiveness of the networking. The analysis by the human resources expert company – prepared with a sample of 12,000 participants – also concludes that the category of the position to be filled is another differentiating variable: while 56% of the managerial profiles were relocated thanks to their network of contacts, only 28% of production workers achieved it this way.

Correcting the mismatch between the number of vacancies offered by the public employment service and the true needs of companies is one of the challenges that the future employment law promoted by the Government will face, and which, according to sources familiar with the negotiation, It will be revitalized in the coming weeks, almost two years after being approved. However, the initial drawing of this new framework – which contemplates the creation of a State Employment Agency that will replace the SEPE – was not subjected to debate with the social agents, and does not have the approval of the unions, who demand that The attribution of the funds to the communities has a final character so that they could not divert it to other items, something that the Executive is not considering collecting. “This new law will also force employers to make any vacancies they have available to the centers,” recalls Mari Cruz Vicente, from CC OO.