Construction employment nears 1.5 million affiliates: how to plan crews and subcontractors

Construction added employment in September

Average sector affiliation reached 1,495,988 people in September 2026, 0.8% more than in August. Spain’s Labour Foundation for Construction puts the homogeneous annual increase at 6.9%, with 97,128 more affiliates than in 2025. The General Regime grew by 8.1% annually and the self-employed regime by 4.1% in the published comparison.

More young workers, but still a minority

A separate snapshot from the Industrial Construction Observatory counts 181,006 employed people under 30: they represent 11.2% of sector employment and increased by 10.3% compared with 2025. This employment figure should not be confused with monthly Social Security affiliation. People aged 30 to 59 still account for 79% of employment.

What to check before committing to a project

National growth does not guarantee the availability of skilled workers, site managers or subcontractors in every province. Before agreeing a deadline and price, obtain written confirmation of the assigned crew, its real availability, the start dates for each trade and replacement capacity in the event of absence. Compare the expected workload with the weeks of backlog already contracted, and do not base the schedule on the national figure alone.

An important methodological caution

CNAE-2025 has applied since 1 January 2026, and real-estate development left the Construction section. As a result, some annual changes by activity are not strictly comparable unless the series is reconstructed. These figures describe the labour market; they create no new obligations, are not a demand forecast, and do not replace checks on preventive training, employment documentation or site-access requirements.

Sources consulted

• Labour Foundation: construction affiliation reached 1,495,988 people in September · Published on 2026-10-08
• Labour Foundation: young people exceed 11% of construction employment · Published on 2026-10-08