A proposal for reducing unemployment in the tertiary sector through changing time usage. The Spanish case

Unemployment is markedly higher in Spain than in other EU countries, having negative economic and social effects for individuals and for the society as a whole. Additionally, Spain employees show low productivity rates. This is in part due to the economic dependency on the third sector, but also to some social aspects. In essence, a different organization of the working hours and the split shift (with a long break for lunch) which complicates reconciling work and family lives. The authors focus on the service sector and propose to concentrate work day to finish work earlier and to add a new shift in the evening to allow shops, banks and the important hospitality sector, among others, to remain open all day. This double shift, instead of a split shift, could be better rearranged by changing the time zone and improving sunlight distribution between morning and afternoon. The expected social benefits are productivity enhancement and jobs creation, i.e. unemployment reduction.