Overview
- The latest Encuesta de Población Activa shows 5 million people aged 55 and over are now employed, up by about 200,000 in the past year and 1.3 million since 2019.
- Social Security affiliation hit a record level with seniors accounting for 22 percent of 22.7 million affiliates in the second quarter, a rise linked in coverage to large-scale immigrant regularizations.
- The 60–64 age group now includes roughly 1.8 million workers, a near threefold increase from earlier years, and some provinces such as Gipuzkoa recorded a decade rise of more than 50 percent.
- Despite the gains, nearly half a million older people are unemployed, with the majority concentrated in the 55–59 age bracket, reflecting persistent age-based hiring barriers.
- Editorial analysis warns that employer stereotypes—not physical or technical limits—are excluding experienced workers and that policy and cultural change are needed to fully integrate seniors and ease pressure on firms and public finances.