Soaring rents are making it harder for businesses to find staff in the Canaries
Excessive monthly rental prices are hitting the Canary Islands hard, creating major obstacles for small and medium-sized businesses (SMEs) trying to hire staff. Many job seekers are turning down opportunities if it means working in a municipality where most of their salary would go straight to paying rent.
Enrique Hernández, president of the Canary Islands Business Platform, explains that companies in cities such as Las Palmas de Gran Canaria face real challenges attracting workers from further afield. The problem is particularly acute for roles that require staff to be physically present, with no option for remote working.
Daily commutes can also be unrealistic. “An employee from Mogán in the south of Gran Canaria, travelling to the capital faces a 120-kilometre round trip every day. Finding affordable housing near their workplace is almost impossible,” says Hernández.
Similar issues occur on the smaller capital islands, where moving workers from Arrecife (Lanzarote) or Puerto del Rosario (Fuerteventura) to more distant areas is a significant challenge.
Offering extra pay is rarely enough. “Any bonus for travel will always fall far short of the rental prices near the workplace,” Hernández adds. He has personally experienced candidates refusing jobs in the capital because they cannot afford to live there, and commuting is not feasible.
For SMEs, the problem is particularly severe compared with large multinationals. “Global companies can afford to bring in senior managers and pay whatever housing costs are needed. Small local businesses simply cannot compete,” Hernández explains.
The rental squeeze also affects the south of the islands, especially in tourism hotspots. Here, demand for staff is high, but so are housing costs. “In highly populated, economically active areas, prices skyrocket because the need for workers allows landlords to keep pushing rents up,” he concludes.
The situation means many workers initially try to manage long commutes, but quickly burn out, or take multiple jobs just to cover rent, with buying a home now completely out of reach for most.
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