The states in the north of the country are the ones with the labor markets with the best characteristics for the performance of workers and companies. Sinaloa heads this year the list of entities with the most competitive conditions for talent.
Sinaloa remained the state with the best conditions to work in Mexico. The ranking of the five entities with the best employment scenario in 2022 is completed by Baja California Sur, Nuevo León, Mexico City, and Sonora reveal data from the annual measurement carried out by the Mexican Institute for Competitiveness (Imco).
According to the State Competitiveness Index 2022 (ICE), entities in the north of the country are generally those that offer the best opportunities for working people, these are reflected in good salaries, a smaller salary gap, working days of less than 48 hours of work and a strong emphasis on training for skills development.
For the second consecutive year, Sinaloa positioned itself as the entity with the most competitive labor market. Baja California Sur climbed four positions to be in second place, mainly due to the improvement in the level of salaries offered. In third and fourth place are Nuevo León and Mexico City, respectively, both with a drop of one position compared to the 2021 measurement. Sonora, for its part, remained in fifth place.
“The most competitive entities attract more talent and investment and offer better working conditions, that is, a competitive state generates the necessary conditions to raise the quality of life of workers,” said the agency.
At the other end of the list, the states with the least competitive labor markets are Chiapas, Oaxaca, Tlaxcala, Guanajuato, and Guerrero.
In the measurement for 2022, detailed the Imco, greater emphasis was placed on the analysis of the world of work throughout the country. Through a sub-index called “Factors Market” that measures the efficiency of work, he added, “a fragmented country is observed: while in the north work provides families with higher incomes and they have, on average, more access to health, the opposite happens in the south”.
Some of the findings that reflect this marked division in working conditions between regions of the country are:
- Labor income . The average income from work in Baja California Sur, Nuevo León and Baja California is greater than 10,500 pesos per month, while in Tlaxcala, Oaxaca and Chiapas it is less than 6,250 pesos per month.
- Informality. Six out of ten workers are in the informal sector at the national level. In Baja California Sur, Coahuila, and Nuevo León it is just under four, and in Chiapas, Oaxaca, and Guerrero it is close to eight out of ten.
- Talent. In Mexico City, Nuevo León, and Baja California Sur, the population over 25 years of age with education exceeds 30%. For its part, in Zacatecas, Guanajuato, Hidalgo, Chiapas, Guerrero, and Oaxaca this figure does not reach 20 percent.
“When we talk about the labor market, we can speak in general terms of a dual labor market in Mexico, the labor market and the informal market with their differences. But working in the north is not the same as working in the south, the differences are abysmal,” said Valeria Moy, general director of Imco, at the presentation of ICE 2022.
Campeche, the state with the lowest wage gap
Another of the labor indicators measured by the Index is the one referring to the gender wage gap at the state level, although this element is part of the “Society” sub-index that measures the quality of life of the inhabitants through inclusion, and education, and health.
The gap in income received on average by men and women at the national level is 15%, an indicator that reflects a deterioration compared to the 2021 measurement when it stood at 13 percent. The state with the lowest wage inequality due to gender and the most competitive in this matter is Campeche, with a level of 2.8 percent. Meanwhile, the entity with the worst disparity is Oaxaca, with 24 percent.
Another aspect of this sub-index related to the world of work is that referring to the economic participation of women, which stood at 39% this year, an improvement of one percentage point compared to 2021. At the state level, the best entity in this row is Mexico City, with a level of 45%; at the other extreme is Chiapas, with an indicator of 30 percent.
In general, the entity with the best living conditions for its population in 2022 is Mexico City, followed by Sonora, Baja California Sur, Colima, and Querétaro. “A state that prepares its population closes inequality gaps and guarantees access to health services is more attractive to talent,” Imco pointed out.
To improve the conditions of the labor market and the quality of employment at the state level, the agency presented four recommendations :
- Identify the roots of informality in the region, whether it is the prevalence of informal companies or the non-compliance with labor rights by companies that do comply with other fiscal responsibilities.
- Adopt practices to attract the talent of more women, both in the public and private sectors, through internal policies of work-life integration, employment equality and non-discrimination.
- Reform the social security system to reduce the costs that companies face when formalizing their employees and complying with fiscal obligations.
- Generate a business environment with favorable conditions for investment in the country, both nationally and internationally, through compliance with the rule of law and economic stability.
All these elements highlighted the Imco, are linked to competitiveness, hence the importance of taking them into account. “Those states in which workers are more and better trained, and wages are more competitive, are more attractive to talent.”
Source: eleconomista.com.mx