Entry into the world of work is not easy and for many it can become a real nightmare. Speeding up the job search is a challenge that improves every year thanks to the Saló de l'Ocupació 2026, a space that brings together companies, entities and resources to facilitate access to job opportunities and accompany people at all stages of their professional career. This year it will be held on October 21 and 22 and more than 160 activities will be available. As a novelty, this edition will have double the surface area of the previous one and the event will strengthen direct connection with companies, personalized guidance, continuous training and skills updating.
Organized by Fira de Barcelona and promoted by the Barcelona City Council through Barcelona Activa, the Saló de l'Ocupació will take place in Hall 8 of the Montjuïc venue. Access will be free, with prior registration through time slots to guarantee capacity. Coinciding with the event, the venue will also host the first edition of the Saló del Comerç, promoted within the framework of the European capital of local trade that Barcelona has held this 2026. Around a hundred entities will present resources and services aimed at improving employability and facilitating that each attendee defines an action plan adapted to their professional objectives. Under the slogan We open doors for you, the proposal is aimed at young people who are entering the world of work for the first time, but also at people actively seeking employment, professionals who want to change sectors and workers who seek to update their knowledge. Given the high number of groups of people, the fair has created a route that will allow identifying interests and competencies, as well as discovering new itineraries and preparing candidacies for possible future selection processes.
The decision to increase the Saló's floor space will allow for greater participation from companies and will also strengthen the area dedicated exclusively to employment opportunities. In this way, around thirty companies will have their own stands, where they will present current vacancies within their teams, explain the professional profiles they are looking for and, in some cases, interview candidates. The latter will focus more specifically on sectors such as agri-food, transport and mobility, metal, water and sanitation, mental health, creative industries, and security and emergency services. At the same time, this offering will be complemented by networking activities, meetings with professionals and sector-specific job marketplaces. The new activity that stands out in the programme is Talent en directe, an initiative aimed at facilitating quick interviews with participant profiles and streamlining the match between talent supply and demand. Overall, the event will bring together more than one hundred companies, most of them with current vacancies within their teams.
More importance to trades and presentations
In this edition of the event, trades will also have a special prominence through practical demonstrations linked to creative industries, nature, care, food, transport, construction, and installations. In this way, attendees will be able to see up close the tasks, tools, and competencies of professions related to fields as diverse as audiovisual, floral art, 3D printing, robotics, health emergencies, physical rehabilitation, or facility maintenance. On the other hand, the fair will include the participation of more than 40 top-level speakers and experts from the fields of career guidance, human resources, training, and digital transformation. Among the participants will be specialists in artificial intelligence applied to employment, talent acquisition and development, and also professionals linked to sectors with high demand for qualified profiles.
Beyond job offers, continuous training and professional reskilling will also be given prominence. Specifically, some university micro-credential training pathways and professional certificates will be made visible, and increasingly necessary transversal skills will be addressed, including continuous learning, adaptability to change, creativity, and critical thinking.
Technology within the Fair
Technology applied to job searching will be another prominent topic. Thus, artificial intelligence will be present in sessions to elaborate and optimize resumes and cover letters, strengthen personal branding, detect professional trends, and prepare for interviews. It will also be explained how automated selection systems, such as ATS, work, and resources will be offered to improve LinkedIn profiles, build an elevator pitch, and face complex questions during an interview. All so that attendees can have much more control over their digital footprint and learn to sell themselves also from behind a screen.
Resources will be offered to improve LinkedIn profiles, build an elevator pitch, and face complex questions
However, this offer of understanding for networks will be complemented by the individual support of the fair, with 45 advisory points on professional orientation, training, candidacies, and labor rights. The activities will also work on self-knowledge, identification of competencies, self-management, and personal communication, with the aim that attendees leave the fair with tools applicable to their job search or career development.