The Spanish economy faltered in the second half of 2011 with zero growth and the faint signs of recovery witnessed in 2010 disappearing.
Spain did not achieve the official 2011 economic growth target of 1.3% (the actual figure was nearer 0.8%). Unemployment levels were higher than in 2010, and any changes in the public and retail banking sectors remain to be seen.
Despite these challenging economic conditions, there were pockets of recruitment at the mid to senior level in some specific sectors that performed strongly. For example, hiring demand within public infrastructure engineering and construction companies with an international focus was strong as these businesses won important deals all over the world due to their widely-recognised expertise and competitiveness. The tourism sector also performed strongly, which led to higher recruitment levels in this area.
There was demand within the IT and telecommunications industry for technical, sales and support services professionals. Due to its resilience to the downturn, recruitment levels in the insurance sector remained stable.
Like many Eurozone economies, Spain is faced with a major challenge as it attempts to trim a large public deficit with spending cuts while, at the same time, safeguarding economic growth and jobs.