35 million Mexican Workers face Precarious Employment Conditions

Mexico ranks red on the ‘Dignified Work Stoplight’ sue to its 35.3 million people working in precarious conditions and 24.6 million out of the labor market, according to a study by the civil society organization Acción Ciudadana Frente a la Pobreza (Citizen Action Against Poverty). In the country, only 9 million people have a formal employment contract that meets the minimum conditions of dignity, meaning that it provides social security and an income sufficient to buy the ‘family basket,’ equivalent to the cost of two basic food baskets. As of March, this income had to be more than MX$7,500 (US$378) per month.

“We need decent work for all and, to achieve this goal, we need to reorder the labor system and make labor rights part of the effort for economic growth, productivity and innovation. If we only create jobs that lead to poverty, the country will not move forward. We have to break precariousness and informality,” said Rogelio Gomez, Coordinator of Acción Ciudadana Frente a la Pobreza, in a press conference. 

Of Mexico’s 79 million people who are able to work, 24.6 million are excluded from the labor market and women are the majority of them, revealed the report. Those excluded from the labor market can be divided into two groups: the unemployed, which includes about 10 million people; and those who are not economically active but are able to work. The second group includes those who are unable to seek paid work because of their domestic responsibilities, which are commonly not remunerated. Women make up 95 percent of the latter category.

In mid-June, IMSS reported that 38,961 formal jobs were recovered in May 2021, its highest amount during that the same month since 2014. The pandemic had costed the economy 344,526 jobs in May 2020. This year, employment rose by 2.7 percent at an annual rate in May. The sectors that recovered most jobs were construction with 14.4 percent of all jobs. manufacturing with 5.2 percent and transport and communications with 3.9 percent. On the other hand, the business services sector decreased by 1.1 percent, the electricity industry by 0.3 percent and the agricultural sector by 0.3 percent.