For the Mexican Institute for Competitiveness
During the first quarter of 2022, the employed population lost more than half a million workers, thus having a quarterly drop of (-) 0.9%. The decline was entirely due to the elimination of more than 600 thousand informal jobs; the formal employed population added 100 thousand people.
Compared to the first quarter of 2021, the population with a job increased by 3.1 million people (a growth of 5.9% annually).
In addition to the quarterly loss of employment, the 22.3% labor gap in the period shows that 2 out of 10 people who could be working contributed few or no labor hours to the economy.
In Tlaxcala, Oaxaca and Mexico City, the labor gap is more than 30%, while in Querétaro and Jalisco it is less than 14%.
At the close of 1Q2022, women had a higher labor gap, as 26.9% of potential female workers worked less than they could or would like to. On the other hand, the labor gap for men was 18.9%. In total, the untapped potential of the labor force is 14.6 million Mexicans who do not contribute their time and skills to the paid economy.
Four million women do not contribute the working hours they could to the economy, and 7.2 million men are also underemployed. The employed population at the end of the first quarter of the year.
Both the loss of jobs in the first quarter of 2022 and the persistence of a labor gap greater than 20% underscore the need to generate more jobs to take advantage of the full potential of the country's human capital, and thus guarantee sufficient income for the population. To this end, it is necessary to boost economic development and improve labor market conditions. In this sense, IMCO proposes:
Raising working conditions for womenThis will improve the perception of their employability and encourage greater female participation in the economy. To this end, it is necessary to adjust hiring policies in both the public and private systems to guarantee equal opportunities for both sexes. Furthermore, the reduction in the difference between salaries offered to men and women is fundamental to generate a perception of an egalitarian labor market in which more women seek to participate.
Basic conditions such as a solid rule of law, a stable political system, and a dynamic economy, among other components.. A more competitive region, with an environment that fosters business and economic growth, has a greater capacity to attract and retain talent and investment, and better possibilities to generate sufficient employment for its population, taking advantage of existing human resources. In order to increase the competitiveness of the country and its states, tools such as the State Competitiveness Index should be used to show the pending issues that each region faces.
