Virgilio López (La Roda, Albacete): “Teleworking is viable but we need a change of mentality”

Virgilio López Alarcón is the owner of Asesoría Virgilio López (La Roda, Albacete), founded in 1991 and specialized in labor advice and management. He has a diploma in labor relations from the CLM University and is a member of the College of Social Graduates of Albacete.

During this health and economic crisis, what has been the biggest challenge you have faced in your office? Have you felt the viability of the sector is compromised?

In my case, the biggest challenge that I was subjected to was the processing of the ERTEs. There were many that were processed, in a short time and with practically no information, since during the confinement in most of the Administration sites they did not answer the phone either due to lack of infrastructure or because they were overwhelmed by so many calls, with the added pressure of the fear that any error would result in which workers would not collect unemployment benefits.

I take this opportunity to congratulate the officials, since I know that during the pandemic, especially during confinement, they worked until the end of the week to carry out the ERTEs and that the workers received their benefits on time.

As for the viability of the sector, I am not going to hide a certain fear, especially at the beginning of the pandemic, not knowing its duration or how the market would respond after confinement.

You have been a fundamental part in the beginning of the pandemic due to the large number of benefits that you have had to manage. How did you digitally face this increase in the volume of work, which was also not in person? Do you consider the implementation of teleworking viable, perhaps through a formula hybrid?

I don't feel like a fundamental part, we have all contributed our grain of sand and we had to manage many benefits as you mentioned. As for digital work, it really wasn't very expensive for me, since in recent years there has been an important step towards this type of work and most organizations (Social Security, Tax Agency...etc.), are more than prepared for this increase in tasks.

I want to thank Fraternidad-Muprespa and its staff of professionals in the Albacete delegation for the support and information we had to process the files through the website. It turned out to be very simple and very comfortable. I extend this gratitude to the College of Social Graduates of Albacete in which we have always had support.

As for teleworking, it has been shown during the pandemic that it is viable because we have enough technology to carry it out, but we need a change in terms of mentality. I think we are not prepared to telework for a long time since we need to socialize with our co-workers, clients...etc. After all, it has been our daily routine for many years and we cannot change it overnight. We would also have to take into account the criteria of population and distance to work, since in small towns we do not have a great temporal or economic disadvantage in traveling to our workplace, so for the moment I am leaning towards the hybrid formula.

What were and are the main economic effects of the pandemic on your clients?

The main economic effect of the pandemic in most sectors has been the lack of activity and therefore of turnover, especially during confinement, a fact that has been more accentuated in some sectors, such as restaurants, hotels, travel agencies, buses... fortunately, at least in the province of Albacete, some of these activities are returning to activity levels pre-pandemic. If it had not been for the ERTEs force majeure, I highly doubt that they would have survived, with the consequent economic chaos that would have entailed for everyone.

The impact of the crisis in the province of Albacete, I suppose like in the rest of Spain, has been very negative, since practically throughout 2020 a very high percentage of workers have been affected by ERTE to a greater or lesser extent, with the reduction in income that it implies, together with the drop in billing in most companies, it has caused consumption and investments to slow down sharply.

Thank God, during this year 2021 the activity from before the pandemic was recovered almost one hundred percent. From my professional office, only two companies have requested the extraordinary extension of the ERTE from November 1st. Everything indicates that throughout 2022 we will return to the activity that existed before the pandemic. That is, if we all do our part to ensure that infections decrease and we are not surprised by any other unexpected economic crisis.

Has the aid that has been granted both at the national and local level to the different sectors arrived on time? Have they been enough?

In my opinion the aid has been little and has arrived late, since the majority of businesses have had to continue supporting fixed expenses and have had to request loans to meet these payments. Logically, there have been sectors that have benefited more than others, which I see as correct, since not all sectors have been affected by the crisis equally. I think that these aids should have been studied more slowly since there are many highly affected activities that, because they do not belong to a specific CNAE, have been left without any type of aid. Let's hope that the next aid from the European Union will be distributed more fairly.

The new Business Creation and Growth Law contemplates the simplification of the procedures to establish a company. How do you think it will affect the business productive fabric? local?

Any help to promote the creation of companies and jobs is welcome, although the "song" of the elimination of bureaucratic obstacles for the creation of companies is not new or at least it has not been carried out efficiently since in different organizations they continue to require documentation already presented in another administration. In my specific case, I believe that the impact it will have on the local business productive fabric is going to be zero.

The pandemic has put value on the prevention of occupational risks, do you think companies perceive it that way too? How do you value the work of training and dissemination of prevention in the different sectors of activity in which your companies operate?What do you value most about the service received by

Fortunately the business mentality, at least as far as I perceive it, has been changing over the years in terms of prevention, since good training in occupational risk prevention greatly prevents absenteeism from work, at least in terms of work accidents.

The service offered by Fraternidad-Muprespa is excellent, both for the professional treatment of its workers and for the extensive network of centers that the Mutual Fund has. For example, the Fraternidad-Muprespa Habana Hospital has treated several patients from our companies and the professional and human treatment has been unbeatable.