“The SMI is a Government intervention within collective bargaining”

Gerardo Cuerva, president of Cepyme, describes the Minimum Interprofessional Wage as “interventionism” on the part of the State and points out that the Government does it for “political wills.” This is how Cuerva spoke this Monday prior to a new meeting on the SMI: “Salary increases of more than 80% in eight years due to political will are not necessary at the moment we are in. We do not know the memory of these data and so It is difficult to support the why and the consequences. The SMI is an intervention by the Government, which has power, but I dare say that it is a clear intervention within collective bargaining.”

Regarding whether Cepyme is positioning itself for a 0% increase for this year, the president of Cepyme has stressed that “we should not get lost in the number, but in the overall situation and measures that the Government addresses.” Alluding to the fact that “talking about the growth of the SMI without taking into account the characteristics of each company does not make sense or reason to exist. It is not worth talking about the reduction of working hours and SMI independently.”

Company size

Small and medium-sized companies in Spain are below the European average, 5.9 workers, in terms of number of workers, 4.8. This is reflected in the Business Growth report prepared by Cepyme. In this sense, Spain only remains above Italy, compared to the large EU countries, which have, on average, employees.

Thus, the difference with countries like Germany or the United Kingdom is the most pronounced. German SMEs have 11.9 employees on average and those in the United Kingdom 8.7. In this sense, the number of medium-sized companies should grow by 36% to reach the figures that exist in the countries around us (up to 24,735 medium-sized companies).

The growth of companies not only benefits entrepreneurs, but would also bring with it higher salaries due to having more resources; a greater attraction of talent, both from Spain and other countries; better access to financing; and greater productivity and competitiveness with the rest of the EU countries, since Spanish SMEs export 40% less than their European counterparts.

And the smaller size of the companies means that productivity is lower, since sales per employee in Spain stands at 329.2 euros, compared to 788.7 in Ireland, 592.4 in Belgium or Denmark’s 485.5, countries with which there is a greater gap. Despite this, the EU average is also 10% above sales per worker in Spain, with 362.2 euros.

Obstacles to growth

The growth of SMEs is biased by the regulations that the Government carries out year after year. An example of this is the increase in the SMI, which has grown by 73% since 2016 and which affects, with special force, companies that have a smaller number of employees due to the increase in costs that it entails and that is not reflected. in an increase in productivity.

Another problem faced by SMEs is absenteeism, which at the end of 2024 remained at rates of 7%, a level it rose to since the pandemic and has remained at.

Finally, bureaucratic burdens mean that SMEs spend time that they could dedicate to developing their activity to managing reading regulations and keeping up to date with tax news. Administrative burdens that Cuerva highlights “discourage the sector.

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“The SMI is a Government intervention within collective bargaining”