Number of employees up for the first time

The total number of employees increased by over 110,000 in 2005 compared to the previous year, with the trade and building industries being the main driving force behind this growth. The reason for all this was the flat tax. Despite massive layoffs seen in the industry, the total number of employees reached 4.5 million people last year, as compared to 4.4 million at the end of 2004, according to data released by the National Statistics Institute (INS). The restructuring of the industry was actually the difficult process, which, in the first ten years after the revolution caused a continuous decline, year on year, in the numbers of employees in the economic sector. During the last five years, the number of employees steadied around 4.5 million, with slight fluctuations, the most significant of which being the notable growth, by 20,000 people, seen three years ago. 2004 was actually the only year when the number of employees went down to less than 4.5 million. Forecasts predict that the number of employees will reach almost 5 million in 2009, a level that has not been reached for more than 7 years. The trade and constructions sectors were the most dynamic in terms of employment growth. Trade companies hired almost 85,000 new employees last year, a 15% growth for segments such as retail, car dealers and car fuel distributors. ZF