Chapter 396 - 215: Inspecting Barcelona (Part 3)
After Canovas officially assumed the position of Prime Minister, his concurrent position as Minister of Industry became vacant, providing Ankaro with an opportunity for further development.
If Ankaro performs well in the position of Minister of Industry, Carlo wouldn’t mind considering him to form a cabinet as Prime Minister after Canovas.
After all, for all countries of this era, industrial development is of utmost importance. If one excels in the industrial sector, there would hardly be any mistakes in national development.
With industry comes everything, an eternal truth of this era. One of the main reasons the United States and Germany rose rapidly during this time is the swift construction of their vast industries.
Though the United Kingdom is currently the most powerful industrial nation, within the next twenty or thirty years, the United States and Germany will surpass it and become more powerful industrial nations than the United Kingdom.
While industry doesn’t represent everything, it is one of the basic elements in measuring a country’s strength. If Ankaro indeed possesses considerable ability, Carlo is also willing to have him enter a higher stage to fully utilize his talents.
"During the construction of the industrial base, are there any unsolvable problems?" Carlo asked with a smile, "Are the workers’ salaries and benefits guaranteed? I hope what happened in Madrid last time doesn’t happen again in Barcelona."
In the development of the industrial base, Carlo is most concerned about the workers’ attitude.
The construction of the industrial base will create a large number of workers whose power is extremely formidable. Unlike the conservative peasant class, if the interests of the working class are not assured, it is likely the ruling class’s interests that will be undermined.
Carlo clearly sees this point, as the Spanish Government and the Royal Family aren’t particularly short of money. Ensuring the workers’ interests is the priority, while also taking the opportunity for some self-promotion.
"Indeed, the construction of the industrial base has faced many issues, but under your leadership and that of the government, most of these have been resolved." Ankaro did not rush to answer Carlo’s question but pretended to think seriously before he finally replied:
"One unsolved issue is the shortage of technical talent. The current Barcelona Industrial Base has over 250,000 workers, yet the gap in technical talent and skilled workers is significant and considerable.
Additionally, the development of the industrial base deviates slightly from our initial estimates. The Barcelona Industrial Base might turn out to be larger than expected."
Carlo nodded. The shortage of technical talent is not only a problem for the Barcelona Industrial Base but an issue Spain as a whole is facing.
Even with substantial government investment in education, it doesn’t yield results in just a few short years.
Attracting technical talent from abroad is indeed a solution, but large-scale attraction is impossible, with only a few hundred to a thousand technical immigrants each year.
"The industrial base can liaise with various factories and enterprises to identify the most lacking and needed technical job types," Carlo contemplated for a moment and proposed his solution:
"Once we’ve identified the most lacking and needed technical categories, the government will assign people to focus on finding these types of technical talent and skilled workers.
The shortage of technical talent is a problem facing all of Spain and cannot be solved in the short term. However, we can prioritize resolving the shortage of essential talents, leaving less critical issues for later."
Resolving the shortage of all technical talents in the industrial base is impossible in the short term. But resolving the shortage of a specific type of technical talent is achievable for the Spanish Government.
Using money isn’t out of the question after all, the treatment of talent in this era isn’t particularly outstanding, so spending money can indeed acquire some talent.
Compared to the development of the Barcelona Industrial Base, sacrificing some funds isn’t a concern. A complete industrial base is extremely vital to Spain, and even sacrificing resources and other assets is a consideration.
Hearing Carlo’s proposed solution, Ankaro expressed excitement and readily agreed, "That indeed is a good idea, Your Majesty. This problem has troubled me for long. Thank you, Your Majesty, now I can sleep well tonight."
"Haha," Carlo chuckled, knowing Ankaro was flattering him, yet he was satisfied with his attitude, "You mentioned the scale of the Barcelona Industrial Base might have differed from our estimates. What’s the actual situation?"
"Previously, we estimated the Barcelona Industrial Base could accommodate about 500,000 workers and produce 700,000 tons of pig iron and 300,000 tons of steel.
But based on current statistics and the projections for the third phase of the industrial base construction, the base could accommodate up to 550,000 people, and possibly even reaching 600,000 workers.
The total industrial output is expected to also increase by 10% to 15%, meaning Barcelona will require more workers, and solely relying on the population of Catalonia is definitely insufficient," Ankaro responded.