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WORKING IN SPAIN

Amazon to create 17,500 new jobs in Spain

Amazon's cloud computing division AWS will invest €15.7 billion ($17 billion) in data centres in Spain's north eastern Aragón region through to 2033, the US tech giant said Wednesday.

Published: 22 May 2024 16:50 CEST
Amazon to create 17,500 new jobs in Spain
Amazon Web Services Vice President of Technology Matt Wood. (Photo by Ethan Miller / GETTY IMAGES NORTH AMERICA / Getty Images via AFP)

The investment will create around 17,500 indirect jobs in local companies and contribute €21.6 billion to Spain’s gross domestic product during the period, Amazon said in a statement.

An estimated 6,800 of these new jobs will be created in the region of Aragón, where the city of Zaragoza is located.

“This new commitment by AWS spotlights our country’s attractiveness as a strategic tech hub in southern Europe, “Spanish Digital Transformation Minister Jose Luis Escrivá was quoted by Amazon in the statement.

READ ALSO: Meta, IBM, Google, Amazon – How thousands of tech jobs are being created in Spain

The head of the regional government of Aragón, Jorge Azcón, said in a message posted on social network X that this “is the biggest economic investment in the history of our region”.

AWS Spain and Portugal country manager Suzana Curic said that “Aragón was always our winning horse when we were evaluating where to locate our region and our data centres. The availability of land, access to sustainable energy sources, a solid and consolidated business fabric, local talent and the enormous growth potential, were the main reasons why we should be here.”

A pioneer of e-commerce, Amazon’s AWS also dominates cloud computing with 31 percent of the market at the end of 2023, according to Stocklytics.

But rivals Microsoft and Google are gaining ground, with 24 percent and 11 percent market share of the cloud business, respectively.

The race has become particularly heated since the deployment of ChatGPT-style artificial intelligence that the cloud companies are offering to clients.

READ ALSO: Google opens biggest European cyber centre in Spain’s Málaga

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WORKING IN SPAIN

What’s the law on having two jobs in Spain?

With the current cost of living crisis, working more than one job is becoming more and more common, but what are the rules on working multiple contracted jobs in Spain and the tax implications of this?

Published: 25 June 2024 13:24 CEST
What's the law on having two jobs in Spain?

Often it’s necessary to have more than one job at a time, particularly if they don’t pay well and you’re struggling to make ends meet.

In fact, historically that is part of the reason why establishments stay open so late and why siestas were so common – because people would have one job in the morning and then go home for a rest before starting their second.

This is still commonplace today and is in fact becoming more and more popular, with the rise in the cost of living, driving an increasing number of people to take up a second job.

Whatever your reasons for having two jobs or more – to save up more money or gain extra experience and work your way up, there are some financial implications you should be aware of.

What does the law say?

Currently in Spain, there is no restriction that prevents a person from having a second job, with two contracts in two different companies, for 80 hours a week.

According to data from the first quarter of this year from the Active Population Survey (EPA) prepared by the National Institute of Statistics (INE), the number of people with a second job in Spain stands at 591,300, although according to affiliation data of Social Security, some 800,000 people have more than one position.

This trend has been seen in each quarter of the EPA since 2022 and, right now, is close to a historic number.

Categories you should be aware of

There are two types of categories when you work in multiple jobs in Spain – these are pluriempleo and pluriactividad. Pluriempleo literally means multiple employment. This is understood as a person who works as an employee in two or more companies under the same Social Security regime.

In this way, it differs from pluriactividad or multiple activities, which is when people work for others and have their own business at the same time or their second job is under a different social security regime.

For example, if you work as a hotel receptionist in the morning and then in a restaurant at night, these positions are considered to be part of the same regime, but if you work in a hotel in the morning and then as a nurse in a hospital at night, these are two different careers and therefore social security regimes.

If you’re self-employed as well as having a contract job, this is a slightly different situation. To find out more, read our guide below. 

READ ALSO – Self-employed in Spain: What are the tax rules if you do two or more jobs?

What are the tax and social security implications?

If you have two separate jobs, you are required by law to report your situation to Social Security, and to each of the companies you’re employed by.

When it comes to the Tax Agency, it’s important to note that you are obliged to submit your yearly Income Tax return (Renta), when you are paid by more than one employer and your income exceeds €22,000 per year.

READ ALSO – EXPLAINED: The key changes to Spain’s 2023/2024 annual tax return

In 2024, the maximum social security contribution base for employees has been set at €4,720.50 per month. This means, that regardless of whether your income from two positions exceeds this amount, the social security base will not be more than this.

The amount of IRPF (Personal Income Tax) must also be taken into account. If you are combining two contracts, it’s important to calculate the withholding tax.

This is because companies calculate personal income tax based on your annual compensation expectations. They do not take into account the existence of another job, so they apply the discount depending on what they are paying you only.

This means that they will keep less than what they should and when you’re filling out your Renta yearly income tax return, you will most likely have to pay the extra to make up the difference. 

In this case, you should request that both companies calculate personal income tax according to your earnings, so that you can get a good idea of the amount you have to pay working two positions.

You may also consider hiring a gestor or accountant to file your yearly tax return for you if you have a particularly complicated situation and work three or more jobs for example. 

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