Situation of Formal Employment in Mexico during the Economic Mitigation, 2020

Abstract

During 2020, the federal government promoted a policy of containment of economic activity, with the purpose of containing the spread of COVID-19 in the Mexican Republic. This measure of economic containment caused levels of unemployment rarely seen. During the months of March to July 2020 (period of greatest economic mitigation), in a national scale 1 million 117 thousand 584 unemployed women and men were registered in the formal labor market, who had a “permanent” or temporary employment contract. registered with the Mexican Social Security Institute (IMSS). In this national environment, the objective of this work is to analyze the formal employment losses registered in Mexico, during the period from March to July 2020, highlighting the total number of unemployment generated by type of employment contract and by sex. To achieve this purpose, in methodological terms, the statistical information provided monthly by the IMSS was processed and analyzed based on the socio-demographic conception of job instability (defined as the lack of continuity in work relationships or suppression of the employment contract). According to the analysis of said information, among the main results, it is observed that job losses are different on a national scale, by type of employment contract, as well as by period and intra-period and, according to sex. Greater labor instability is observed as a result of the massive dismissal of workers who mainly had permanent contracts and to a lesser extent temporary contracts, mainly affecting men.