The subdelegate of the Government in Ourense, Eladio Santos, met this morning with the president of the Trade Federation, Beatriz Gómez, to inform him of the recent aid of the Government of Spain to promote the economic activity of small businesses, through the improvement of the training of their workers, unemployed people and incentives for hiring.
On the one hand, the Ministry of Labour and Social Economy, through the State Public Employment Service (SEPE), allocates 13 million euros to Galicia to encourage small companies to hire specific groups, such as long-term unemployed, people over 50, women, people with disabilities or young people. These grants also seek to increase the number of hours for which contracting is carried out, as well as to increase the duration of contracts. The amount contributed by the Ministry represents 70% of the total aid, which is supplemented by 30% from the Autonomous Community.
Training Aids
Likewise, the SEPE fully finances a call for training actions aimed at unemployed people, in which it invests 8 million euros. This initiative, aimed at both companies in general and non-profit associations, includes the commitment of subsequent contracting by the beneficiaries. In this way, the company is offered the possibility of the contracted personnel being previously trained by the Government of Spain.
Along the same lines, the Ministry of Education has called for grants worth 4 million euros for the training of people who are currently active, with the aim of officially accrediting the competences they possess, as well as qualifying the newly arrived staff.
"The government facilitates the training of workers so that companies can have greater productivity," said the deputy delegate in relation to these subsidies.
Kit Digital and Kit Consulting
To these lines of subsidies are added the current programs Kit Digital and Kit Consulting, which provide small companies with financial aid for their digitization, acquisition of computer equipment, promotion of their business through the web and management of suppliers and customers. These initiatives, aimed at companies with 0 to 3 employees and 10 to 50 workers, have so far made a contribution of 1.9 billion euros in the case of the Digital Kit and another 104 million in the Consulting Kit, from European funds managed by the Ministry of Digital Transformation and the Public Service.
After the meeting in the Federation, Eladio Santos pointed out that “the employment data of the province of Ourense and the analysis made by the Trade Federation on the disappearance of a large part of the shops must lead to the taking of structural measures such as those of the Government of Spain, beyond small temporary aid”. In that sense, the subdelegate recalled that initiatives such as the trade bond, which encourages consumption using public resources, “are good, but they are not enough, permanent structural measures are necessary for the consolidation of trade in our province,” he concluded.
For her part, the president of the Federation conveyed to her the concerns of the Ourense merchants in terms of security and information on aid of this type, showing special interest in the possibility of holding information sessions in various localities of the province.