Compared with the close of February, a decline of 115,913 people has taken place when taking into account the revised series according to the number of people affected back in work. According to the date of notification (see explanatory note at the end of this document), a drop can be appreciated of 155,755 people.
On average in March, 779,562 people were under an ERTE; of which 555,080 were on a modality under Royal Decree-Laws 30/2020 and 35/2020, and their extension under Royal Decree-Law 2/2021, and hence enjoy exemptions from National Insurance contributions.
Compared with the worst point of the crisis in April 2020, a fall has been recorded of 2.9 million people on an ERTE, according to the date of return to work, and of 2.6 million people according to the date of notification. In both cases, this is almost an 80% drop compared with the worst point of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Of the 746,628 people on a COVID-19-related ERTE at the end of March, 528,098, or 71% of the total, fell under one of the modalities introduced as from 1 October, extended as of 1 February, which include National Insurance exemptions.
Specifically, 54,250 people fall under an ERTE restricting them from working, another 200,056 on an ERTE on limitations on work and another 273,792 on an ERTE for ultra-protected sectors and their value chain. The first of these has seen the largest change at the end of March (down 33.5%), due to the lifting of some administrative restrictions.
Outside of these modalities, and hence without exemptions, there were another 215,530 people on an ERTE on grounds of force majeure or on objective grounds (Spanish acronym: ETOP).
In addition to the 743,628 people on an ERTE at the close of the month, 214,756 are on part-time suspensions. In March, there was a larger fall in people on an ERTE full time (down 14.75%) compared with 28 February than part time (down 10.19%).
Sector and geographic concentration
The number of workers on an ERTE accounts for 5.19% of all contributors under the General Regime (without including the Special Regimes), with a high sector concentration. In absolute terms, the highest number of workers under this form of protection specifically corresponds to food and drink services, with 243,595 people, accounting for almost 30% of all the contributors from this sector.
The sectors with the highest percentage of workers on an ERTE are: travel agencies, with 60.5% of their contributors in this situation; accommodation services, with 56.68% of their contributors under this protective instrument; games of chance activities (42.67%) and air transport (42.14%).
Geographically, there is also a significant concentration in areas with the most tourism activity. Specifically, the province of Las Palmas has the most workers on an ERTE (15.75% of its contributors), followed by Santa Cruz de Tenerife, with 12.5%, and the Balearic Islands, with 10.6% of its workers on an ERTE. In contrast, Guadalajara is the province with the fewest workers under one of these mechanisms, with 2.3% of the total.
NOTE ON THE PUBLICATION OF ERTE FIGURES:
Given that the dates on which ERTEs are applied for and when their effects come into force may be different, there is a certain disparity between the date of notification - the figures notified to that date - and the date on which the effects take place - the registration - (for example, a company may notify the Treasury of the ERTE of its workforce on 10 December, which has already taken effect on 20 November).
With a view to transparency, you can consult the revised series in the attached Excel of people on an ERTE as of the date of registration - a series that requires daily updates - and on the date of notification to make the appropriate comparisons, and in the next few days, the Excel will also be updated of the last few months with the revised series.
Non official translation
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