Presentación Barómetro Industrial 2024

·54 min·4 clips

Alberto Pérez presents the 2024 Industrial Barometer, revealing surprising data on nuclear energy and talent shortages in Spanish industry.

1. Conecta Ingeniería on Capital Radio presents the 8th annual Industrial Barometer 2024, developed by COGITI and the General Council of Economists, covering Spanish industry in the current geopolitical context. 2. Presenters include Mónica Ramírez (COGITI barometer coordinator), Miguel Gómez Pavón (Sub-Director General for Industrial Strategy and Ecosystems), José Antonio Galdón (COGITI president), Miguel Vázquez Taín (General Council of Economists president), and Salvador Marín (CEPYME SME director and Economists study director). 3. The episode's thesis is that Spain's under-industrialized economy — industrial GDP at 14.7% versus the EU 20% target — creates cascading failures in talent retention, wages, and competitive positioning. 4. The barometer surveyed approximately 2,400 engineers; hosts note this is the eighth edition and that its questions have evolved to track current issues including AI readiness rather than repeating static questions. 5. 78% of surveyed engineers support keeping nuclear power installations active longer, framed as evidence of engineers' technical realism — particularly after a recent major national blackout — and contrasted with political pressure to close plants without an energy-mix plan. 6. Rafael Bontegudo argues that renewables are not to be 'demonized' but that nuclear closure must follow a planned, multi-year horizon rather than political decree, or grid stability and electricity prices will suffer. 7. 58% of surveyed engineers report a serious shortage of specialized technical talent in the labor market, with 60% of industrial companies confirming difficulty attracting qualified workers. 8. 46% of engineers say their companies have little or no AI readiness, and hosts note that Spain's structure of small and medium-sized enterprises makes AI adoption particularly difficult to coordinate and finance. 9. Engineering vocations have declined 40% over the last 25 years, a trend the barometer tracks through an additional COGITI study; Galdón notes that training an engineer requires a decade-long pipeline, making solutions started today effective only in the 2030s. 10. Alberto states that Spain's average gross annual salary is 15,000 euros, and argues this would approximately double with a powerful industrial base — connecting under-industrialization to underfunded pensions, low tax revenues, and brain drain. 11. Juan Caro raises the issue of engineering attribution (atribuciones) — engineers entering programs without professional recognition rights — as an additional factor suppressing vocation appeal. 12. BYD (Build Your Dreams, China) has launched a car-carrier ship capable of transporting 7,000 vehicles per trip and plans seven more identical ships, representing full vertical integration from raw materials to retail delivery in Europe. 13. 53% of engineers surveyed want the EU to strengthen anti-dumping measures against unfair competition, reflecting concern that BYD's near-fully-robotized production cannot be competed with on cost alone. 14. 33% of surveyed engineers say Europe's exclusive EV pivot is a mistake, partly because China holds the dominant patents and battery manufacturing capacity for electric vehicles, having invested 100-plus years in ICE-alternative development. 15. Spain's automotive sector generates 300,000 jobs and accounts for 85–90% of vehicle production as exports; hosts warn that component manufacturers relying on combustion engine parts face obsolescence without managed transition. 16. Industrial GDP weight varies sharply across autonomous communities: Navarre and the Basque Country have the highest share, while Madrid and Catalonia contribute the most in absolute terms despite lower industrial GDP ratios. 17. Engineers report significant dissatisfaction with public industrial incentives — both national and regional — citing excessive bureaucratic complexity and difficult justification requirements for subsidies. 18. Tone is informal and collegial: the hosts are professional college members, the setting includes audience visitors (Florencio and Ángel), and political commentary is interspersed with technical analysis — Alberto is openly critical of administrative inaction. 19. The episode appeals to engineers, industrial policy professionals, and anyone following Spain's energy mix debate, automotive transition, or skill shortage crisis. 20. Listeners seeking deep technical engineering content rather than survey results and policy discussion will find the episode high-level and discursive.

Listen to the show on

Apple Podcasts Spotify

Play clips from this episode More from Conecta Ingeniería