Although labor reform alone will not solve the problem of the lack of job creation in the private sector recorded in a dependency relationship, it constitutes a prerequisite for liberalizing this process, along with measures such as tax reduction and exchange market flexibility.
The specific proposal put forward by the government is still unknown, but it is possible to emphasize the need for labor legislation that, in addition to reducing costs and avoiding “pilot industry,” expands flexibility in labor allocation.
Adaptability in business has always been important, but technological transformation makes it even more urgent.
The United States provides an example of flexibility, as do countries such as Singapore, Hong Kong, Canada and New Zealand. They are all characterized by ease of hiring and firing, low unionization, low workloads, and rapid transition between sectors.
High-income countries enjoy easy hiring and firing, low unionization rates, low workloads, and rapid sectoral mobility.
These countries, which are characterized by high per capita income – in 2024, Singapore reached a GDP per capita of US$67,707; Hong Kong, US$51,166; Canada, $54,517 and New Zealand, $48,747. Unemployment rates range between 2% and 6.9%. On the other hand, Argentina maintains a rate of 7.6%, a rate that is adulterated by including public employment at the national, regional and municipal levels in the calculation, because in many cases it has become “job pools”.
the Overestimation of employment in the country It distorts the panorama. On the other hand, the United States recorded an unemployment rate of 4.4%, even after adopting protectionist policies.
This is often mentionedThe industry is losing jobs. This is a fact attributed to international competition, regulatory obsolescence and high tax pressures. However, the global trend points to a highly automated industry that requires fewer workers.
An analysis of the development of labor in the United States, based on annual data since 1939, shows that, excluding the peak of World War II, the share of industrial employment in the private sector fell to nine percent.
At the same time, Services -Excluding public employment- labor representation in the private sector has risen from 48.4% in 1943 to 83.9% today. Thus, today American industry employs nine percent and services employ 83.9 percent, with the remainder in other activities.
he Technological progress It replaces workers in the industrial sector, but increases employment in services. Between 1939 and 2004, American industry added 3.4 million jobs, while the service sector added 97.8 million jobs.
Rural-urban migrations due to the Industrial Revolution (first in England, then with the development of the coal, railways and steel industries) significantly changed the employment and demographic composition. In 1800, 52% of the British people lived from agriculture, a figure that fell to 10% in 1900; While the percentage of people living in cities increased from 13% to 75% during that period.
The current technological acceleration will encourage the reconversion of labour
Changes in production require new profiles. The current technological acceleration will encourage the reconversion of labour. Work will not disappear, but demand will be concentrated in “cerebral” tasks, associated with increased productivity and less physical effort.
Moving toward knowledge-based economies requires two basic conditions: flexibility in labor reallocation and reduced tax costs associated with employment, along with an education system that trains for the intellectual work of the future. Without reforming the labor market or modernizing education, Argentina will continue its decline and will hold the future of future generations hostage.
The basis of the dispute lies in the interests of the union leadership, which focuses on protecting active workers without addressing the unemployed, contrary to the development possibilities of the population as a whole.
Labor market reform does not seek to destroy jobs or promote instability – as union and left-wing sectors of Congress often assert – but rather to generate new registered wage jobs in the private sector.
The unions do not seem to notice that if registered labor does not grow, their membership will decline due to the expansion of the unilateral contribution system.
According to official data, Formal registered employment in the private sector has stagnated since 2011while the registration of monotributistas increases.
Aside from the huge boom in entrepreneurship, the reality is that the private sector does not generate enough job opportunities, and the population resorts to working in the state or working in the informal sector in order to survive.