Top-level speakers debated and shared their views on the sector last Tuesday at the conference “THE DEVELOPMENT OF PERSONAL SERVICES as a Great Opportunity for Job Creation, Support for Work–Family Reconciliation, and a Source of Social Well-Being,” held at the CEOE headquarters.
Everyone agreed that new social trends, such as declining birth rates and an aging population, are strengthening the personal services sector as something necessary for society as a whole.
The Spanish Association of Personal Services (AESP) held the conference “THE DEVELOPMENT OF PERSONAL SERVICES as a Great Opportunity for Job Creation, Support for Work–Family Reconciliation, and a Source of Social Well-Being” last Tuesday. The meeting brought together representatives of different political groups, business representatives, trade unions, and experts, enabling reflection on the opportunities represented by the personal services sector and on the keys to its development.
This conference was conceived in response to the new demand for services in today’s society, which requires an appropriate regulatory framework capable of providing real solutions for reconciling workers’ professional, personal, and family lives, with the consequent creation of formal employment, as well as managing the emergence of new participants in the distribution of these services resulting from new forms of collaborative economy in the sector.
It became clear to all participants that this is currently a highly fragmented sector that needs regulation better adapted to the actual needs of both users and workers in the sector, and that promotes it as one of the most important sources of entrepreneurial development and new business projects, as well as one of the largest sources of both public and private employment.
The Association believes that there is potential for two million new jobs and self-employed entrepreneurs in a sector that is currently estimated to include one million people in the informal economy.
With a new regulatory framework that takes into account all the opportunities this sector offers for job creation and service distribution, this potential would be consolidated, bringing benefits in terms of well-being and quality of life to each of the parties involved: users, workers, and entrepreneurs.
The different speakers advocated balanced policies under which the price users pay for personal services would be equal to the price paid on the black market.
In this regard, measures such as personal income tax incentives for individuals who use these services, or corporate tax incentives for companies that support their employees’ work–family reconciliation by facilitating access to these services, as well as reduced VAT and labor contributions, would promote access to quality services within the formal market.
The importance of a simple system was also emphasized—one that removes obstacles both for users when hiring these services and for individuals who, thanks to the emergence of new forms of service provision such as technology platforms, or new entrepreneurs who want to begin regulated work in the sector, can access and provide these services easily and without significant costs that might discourage them from starting and establishing their activity.
In addition, appropriate sector regulation would promote the visibility and professionalization of the workers who make up the sector.
At the same time, everyone agreed that this is a sector with many possibilities but one that is highly feminized and unregulated, and that personal services complement the public healthcare system and are therefore necessary to meet the new social demands of our society.
See the speakers who took part and their main statements
Photo gallery
Presentations
For more information about the Association, you can download our brochure (PDF).
EVENT “THE DEVELOPMENT OF PERSONAL SERVICES”
Top-level speakers debated and shared their views on the sector last Tuesday at the conference “THE DEVELOPMENT OF PERSONAL SERVICES as a Great Opportunity for Job Creation, Support for Work–Family Reconciliation, and a Source of Social Well-Being,” held at the CEOE headquarters.
Everyone agreed that new social trends, such as declining birth rates and an aging population, are strengthening the personal services sector as something necessary for society as a whole.
The Spanish Association of Personal Services (AESP) held the conference “THE DEVELOPMENT OF PERSONAL SERVICES as a Great Opportunity for Job Creation, Support for Work–Family Reconciliation, and a Source of Social Well-Being” last Tuesday. The meeting brought together representatives of different political groups, business representatives, trade unions, and experts, enabling reflection on the opportunities represented by the personal services sector and on the keys to its development.
This conference was conceived in response to the new demand for services in today’s society, which requires an appropriate regulatory framework capable of providing real solutions for reconciling workers’ professional, personal, and family lives, with the consequent creation of formal employment, as well as managing the emergence of new participants in the distribution of these services resulting from new forms of collaborative economy in the sector.
It became clear to all participants that this is currently a highly fragmented sector that needs regulation better adapted to the actual needs of both users and workers in the sector, and that promotes it as one of the most important sources of entrepreneurial development and new business projects, as well as one of the largest sources of both public and private employment.
The Association believes that there is potential for two million new jobs and self-employed entrepreneurs in a sector that is currently estimated to include one million people in the informal economy.
With a new regulatory framework that takes into account all the opportunities this sector offers for job creation and service distribution, this potential would be consolidated, bringing benefits in terms of well-being and quality of life to each of the parties involved: users, workers, and entrepreneurs.
The different speakers advocated balanced policies under which the price users pay for personal services would be equal to the price paid on the black market.
In this regard, measures such as personal income tax incentives for individuals who use these services, or corporate tax incentives for companies that support their employees’ work–family reconciliation by facilitating access to these services, as well as reduced VAT and labor contributions, would promote access to quality services within the formal market.
The importance of a simple system was also emphasized—one that removes obstacles both for users when hiring these services and for individuals who, thanks to the emergence of new forms of service provision such as technology platforms, or new entrepreneurs who want to begin regulated work in the sector, can access and provide these services easily and without significant costs that might discourage them from starting and establishing their activity.
In addition, appropriate sector regulation would promote the visibility and professionalization of the workers who make up the sector.
At the same time, everyone agreed that this is a sector with many possibilities but one that is highly feminized and unregulated, and that personal services complement the public healthcare system and are therefore necessary to meet the new social demands of our society.
See the speakers who took part and their main statements
Photo gallery
Presentations
For more information about the Association, you can download our brochure (PDF).
