The deterioration of the labor market is not reflected in greater unemployment, but in increasing informality. It is necessary to modernize collective bargaining and work justices.
In the last decade, Argentina has experienced a productive stagnation and formal employment. If not having mediated the growth of informal employment, the unemployment rate would be three times greater than that officially reported by INDEC. To reverse this reality, in addition to sustained economic growth, it is necessary to modernize collective bargaining and labor justices.
During the second quarter of 2025, according to INDEC data, the total number of people occupied in the main urban agglomerates remained stable at 13.3 million, compared to the same period of the previous year. The unemployment rate also remained at 7.6 % of the economically active population (equivalent to one million people looking for employment actively). Although the total number of employed did not vary, there was an increase in both informality and in the proportion of employed who seek to work more hours.
The economy shows a persistent trend to stagnation and financial instability, which allows anticipating an aggravation of deterioration in the labor market. Given this scenario, the adjustment is likely to be channeled again through increases in informality, even to the detriment of quality use. This universe also covers those who serve as monotributistas, since, in general, these are occupations of low productivity and low income.
According to data from the Ministry of Labor and the Ministry of Economy, during the 2015–2025 period, in a context of economic stagnation, the number of private employees registered remained constant at 6.2 million. On the other hand, the amount of unemployed increased from 1.1 to 1.6 million, while informal workers – in a broad sense – went from 6 to 9 million.
In a decade without economic growth, quality jobs were not generated. The labor market adjusted not so much via unemployment, but through a sustained expansion of informality. If this had not grown, the unemployment rate would currently be at 23 %, and not in the 7.6 % that is officially registered. The deterioration of the labor market is not reflected in greater unemployment, but in increasing informality.
Structural causes
The structural causes of this phenomenon include both productive stagnation and the current collective bargaining regime. At the moment, Collective agreements that were negotiated in 1975 and between 1987 and 1988 are applied. Joint dynamics is limited to the update of salaries by inflation, but the structural conditions of said agreements are extended indefinitely, forcing employers and workers to their application, even when they do not belong to the business chamber or the signing union.
The lack of update and flexibility in collective bargaining prevents adapting jobs to current needs. In practice, This rigidity also hinders the implementation of labor reforms approved by Congress, such as the replacement of the compensation regime for dismissal by a labor cessation system.
Likewise, the commitment of the provinces is essential. To promote the creation of formal employment, it is necessary to unify the provincial criteria for updating labor credits and establish bodies of medical experts that evaluate the damage to labor judgments, with homogeneous and predictable standards.
* Professor at the University of CEMA.
Source: Ambito
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