[mkl95]

Spain had a massive property / construction bubble years ago. Wages grew substantially until 2008, when the industry crashed. It shattered the economy for many years until we started to slowly recover, in 2015 or so.

The last few years before COVID, wages were improving and things were looking a bit better overall. All of that seemed to vanish the moment lockdown started.

Regarding lack of skill, as a developer I notice two things:

1) Most young people seeking a technical position are hilariously unqualified despite having spent many years studying some engineering degree. School here has no connections with the real world and there is a lack of personal project culture.

2) Those who are qualified have to compete against hundreds of applicants for a position. Job scarcity is a serious problem for developers here, since it also means having no leverage to negotiate your working conditions.