The International Labour Organization (ILO) reported that unemployment and the number of informal workers will grow this year.

The report “World Employment and Social Outlook: Trends 2018”,  developed by ILO points out that there will be a decrease in the number of formal jobs and an increase of informal labour in Mexico, a situation that sets the country apart from other nations in the region.

In addition, the report “Evaluation of the Social Development Policy 2018”, by Coneval, claims that “the fact that over 50% of young people in Mexico have an informal job and earn a low wage, sets limits in their full development as well as in the development of the country, which is rather alarming”.

Javier López Casarín, president of the Foundation Reinventing Mexico (FRM) , said that “it is important to improve workers’ skills and help them develop the competences that shall enable them to succeed in the labour market, improve their family situation, and build more egalitarian and tolerant societies”.

López Casarín pointed out that figures for the second quarter of the year, published by INEGI, show that labour informality represents 60% of the labour market, which means that the largest share of employees in the country are in an either direct or indirect situation of vulnerability.

“If we fail to invest in skills development”, says López Casarín, “broad sectors of society will remain outside economic success, limiting the technological advance in our country, meaning we shall remain poorly competitive in a world with an economy that demands people to have greater knowledge, skills and abilities”.

Mexico must develop active employment policies that shall bring the country closer to the future of work, increasing productivity and competitiveness.