He Minister of Labor and Social Security, Pablo Mieres, admitted that there is an employment problem in Leap and considered that, although it is structural, it is “increasingly accentuated” by the exchange difference existing with Argentina.
The constant crossings of Uruguayans to the neighboring country to take advantage of shopping price gap worry the government, which promises to take measures, although from the MTSS They highlighted that “there was a reduction in informality” in the department, which went from 40.2% in 2018 to 28.9% currently.
During the presentation of the Labor Market Analysis Report in the Department of Leap 2018-2022, Mieres He admitted that the government seeks to address “the need to put a magnifying glass on what happens at a more local level,” due to its proximity to Argentina.
The leader maintained that “there is a problem regarding employment in Leap that has a structural component”, which he considered prior to the exchange difference. However, he assured that “this magnitude of disproportion with respect to Argentina It is unprecedented and increasingly accentuated.”
For all this, he considered that the government has “the challenge” of looking for instruments “that mitigate these impacts.” In this sense, he highlighted the survey as “a positive exercise” and expressed expectation that it would be useful “so that at the departmental level actions can be carried out.”
Employment, informality and unemployment
When evaluating the situation, the National Director of Employment, Daniel Pérez; echoed data from the report and showed that “if you compare July of last year against July 2023, what it indicates is that there are 3,000 more people working.”
At the same time, he considered that the rate of unemployment, in the order of 13.2% “it is high, but it is not because of loss of jobs, but because there are more people who are looking for work.”
With respect to informality, The survey showed a reduction from 40.2% to 28.9% in five years. “There is more work which in turn is more formal. If we look at the proportion, informality drops more in Leap than the average of the country,” Pérez said.
During an event in which the National Director of Coordination in the Interior also participated, Andrés Prati; and the president of the Salto Commercial and Industrial Center, Vera Facchin, The leader admitted that in the department it was not possible to recover the employment lost pre-pandemic.
“Surely the commercial sector is losing a lot competitiveness and is probably making a very important effort to sustain jobs,” he said finally, in relation to the exchange difference.
Source: Ambito
