A total of 41 companies have submitted their applications for assistance aimed at promoting productivity improvement in small and medium-sized industrial companies through pilot projects to reduce working hours. This call, launched by the Ministry of Industry, Trade, and Tourism through the EOI Public Foundation, a pioneer in Spain, is aimed at Spanish industrial SMEs.
For Minister Héctor Gómez, “This first pilot program shows that companies are open to a new way of organizing their hours, reducing working hours without affecting wages and improving their business results: everyone Wins, SMEs and Workers”.
41 applications from industrial SMEs come from 13 autonomous communities: Catalonia (11), Andalusia (6), Galicia (4), Basque Country (4), Principality of Asturias (3), Comunidad Foral de Navarra (3), Canarias ( 3), Community of Madrid (2), Cantabria (1), Castilla y León (1), Castilla la Mancha (1), Extremadura (1), Balearic Islands (1). During the period of submission of applications, a total of 165 requests for information were received from entities in various fields.
The total value of eligible expenses requested by the 41 projects submitted is €2,831,017.60 and the total number of workers assigned to the pilot projects affects 503 people. The diversity and quality of proposals submitted showcase the talent and creativity of interested industrial SMEs, covering a wide range of sectors such as engineering, architecture, electrical materials and equipment, rubber, pharmaceuticals, textiles, and distribution and food.
Project Evaluation
This experiment seeks to collect data that allows a reliable assessment that can be extrapolated to all small and medium-sized companies in the industrial sector. After the application submission deadline, the evaluation of the submitted projects begins, which will be resolved within a maximum period of 5 months. The total funding to be provided in the form of subsidy shall be a maximum of 90 percent of the financeable budget, subject to the conditions and limits established in Article 7 of the Principal Order.
The budget credits assigned to this call amount to a total of 9,650,000 Euros for the budget of the EOI Foundation, a public institution attached to the Ministry of Industry, Commerce, and Tourism. The maximum amount of the subsidy will be 200,000 Euros and the eligible expenses will be those incurred by the applicant company during the first year of the pilot project.
The minimum duration of the pilot project of reducing working hours without a cut in wages shall be two years, which shall be reckoned from the grant of assistance. Therefore, the company will be committed to maintaining the reduction in employee hours involved in the project for that period.
