Mexican Employers Show Optimism: The Week in Talent

This week's unemployment data presented by INEGI revealed that although Mexico has recovered jobs, they qualify as precarious. The country is recovering from one of its biggest job losses due to the pandemic and analysts foresee some challenges as new waves of infection emerge and the bulk of the population has not yet been vaccinated.

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• In June 2021, Mexico had an unemployment rate of 4 percent, representing over 2.3 million people, tweeted Julio A. Santaella, President of INEGI. The recent unemployment rate, however, represents a contraction from June 2020’s 5.4 percent, indicated INEGI. Since the beginning of the crisis caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, Mexico experienced one of the largest drops in employment figures of the OECD area. “Currently, the labor gap is already showing some signs stagnation […] and we think that over the next few months the labor market will face new challenges given the complication of the pandemic in recent weeks,” Monex reported. The primary sector was responsible for 46 percent of job generation for Mexico with over 647,000 jobs. The complete article here.

• ManpowerGroup’s latest Employment Expectations Survey for Mexico indicates that most employers have positive expectations for 3Q2021. The report surveyed 4,004 employers in the country and asked them: “Do you expect any changes or movements regarding talent in your organization in 3Q2021 when compared to 2Q2021?” According to ManpowerGroup, Mexican companies are positive in terms of hiring as 14 percent of employers hope to increase their work teams or plan to hire new collaborators, 78 percent are not seeing many changes and only 4 percent believe they will have to reduce their staff. Get the full perspective here.

• To the disappointment of border town economies along the 2,000-mile-long US-Mexico border, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) extend its non-essential travel restrictions for another month. These restrictions have been in place since March 2020 but do not affect cross-border trade, US citizens, lawful permanent residents, students and people traveling for medical reasons. However, as pointed out by El Paso’s County Judge, Ricardo Samaniego, US citizens are bypassing these restrictions by jumping on a plane to popular tourism spots, which also have the highest rates of COVID-19 in Mexico. These include Quintana Roo, Yucatan and Baja California Sur. Read the complete article here.

• IMSS’s Technical Council authorized a deadline extension for the implementation of the changes required by the Labor Law Reform, announced IMSS. The initial timeline, published in the Official Journal of the Federation on April 23, 2021, had given companies 90 natural days to make necessary adjustments but many businesses had failed to meet all requirements by the original deadline of July 24. The institute authorized the extension to give those companies more time to make the necessary adjustments. President Andrés Manuel López Obrador applauded the decision to give an extension to companies saying “It is for companies to prepare and adjust to the new scheme,” as reported previously by MBN. Get the full picture here.

• The International Air Transport Association (IATA) launched an environmental sustainability training program alongside the University of Geneva (UNIGE). Sustainability is increasingly being prioritized by the aviation industry in Mexico and abroad; the COVID-19 pandemic only made it more important. In its survey for Aviation Workforce Skills and Training, IATA identified sustainability as one of the top training needs for the sector. “Ensuring that all those working in this industry are given the opportunity to acquire these new skillsets is essential, as we increasingly place more emphasis on making our operations more sustainable while rebuilding from the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic,” said Willie Walsh, Director General of IATA. The complete article here.