Employment continues to recover in Uruguay and in December it reached figures not seen since 2017. In that sense, experts foresee a positive year 2022 for the Uruguayan labor market –always subject to the health situation– but they warn about the need to train Human Resources (HR) for a growing demand from the technology sector and the agro-exporter.
The year 2021 closed with 87 thousand jobs more than in the same month of the previous yearaccording to the survey released by the National Statistics Institute (INE) Last Tuesday. In December, the activity rate stood at 62%, the employment rate at 57.7% and the unemployment rate at 7%.
The figures indicate that, compared to November, there were 9 thousand more jobs last month, while in the average of the year there were 49 thousand employed above 2020he wrote on his Twitter account the economist Aldo Lema. In this way the country practically recovered from the shock caused by the pandemic during its first year (2020). That year there were about 59,000 fewer employed people on average than in 2019, which added to the destruction of another 50,000 jobs in the previous five years.
Source: INE – Continuous Household Survey
Evolution of the monthly employment rate
In addition, published data show the best unemployment figure since 2017 and employment exceeded the level of January 2020although the total activity it is still one percentage point below that of February of that year.
The reason for those figures
Neker de la Llana, director of the consultancy Organizations + Humanas (O+H)told El Observador that, in part, what is being seen with the latest numbers is “a rebound effect after the exit of the pandemic”. In this sense, he highlighted the preponderance that has had the generation of employment in the interior for this growth and pointed the good moment of the agro-export sector.
A report from Center for Development Studies (CED) revealed that 1 of every 9 jobs that were generated in 2021 was outside of Montevideo. “We have the agribusiness with a healthy and interesting context regarding international prices and this generates a series of interesting synergies in that value chainboth in the meat and forestry sectors”, indicated De La Llana.
Added to these favorable indicators are the construction process of the UPM 2 plant, in Pueblo Centenario, Duraznoand the gradual return of activity in the tourism sectorwhich was one of the hardest hit by the pandemic.
The other sectorstar” with regard to the reactivation of employment is the technologicalwhich according to De la Llana, is found in a context “very auspicious” and it’s in “exceptionally healthy conditions” To generate “lots of opportunities”.
José Luis O’Neill, executive director of the HR consultancy Ascênde for Argentina and Uruguayalso highlighted the importance of the agro-export sectorwhich was favored by “the international prices of commodities and the limitations that other countries have had to cover their demand for food”. In that sense, he indicated that Uruguay has managed to place large volumes of products at a good price and that is driving the best in the economy.
The industry of construction is another one that has mobilized the labor market during 2021. O’Neill highlighted the works and infrastructures of UPM 2 and the Central Railway. In addition, the industry of information technology (IT) continues to maintain leadership in terms of job offers.
Working market
The problems of the leading sector
The IT industry has salaries above average. However, the industry is concerned shortage of talent in Uruguay, which forces the search for trained personnel outside the country. Not only does the IT industry specifically require human talent specialized in technology, but companies and diverse organizations increasingly require professionals with technological skills.
Leandro Loureiro, president of the Uruguayan Chamber of Information Technologies (CUTI), said to The Observer in November that at the beginning of 2021 there was talk that 2,500 people per year would be needed. However, the 3,000 annual frequency has already been exceeded and this year 5,000 would be needed. “Today more people are needed since there is work that we cannot take because we do not have the resources to carry it out”, he added.
According to O’Neill, one of the main problems they have had is that significant volumes of job applications are received that do not fit the qualification requested by the applicants. Along these lines, he indicated that it is common for it to happen in the IT sector.
“With the difficulties of being able to cover all its needs for the incorporation of people in the domestic market, it has expanded its search abroad”, he indicated.
For De la Llana, the great challenge facing the country is in terms of “job retraining” from profiles of low and medium qualification and that responds to the incorporation of technologies in the value chains. He added that there are job profiles that “are at risk” five or ten years from now and all those who have “a significant rate of repetition or routine are threatened”.
For this reason, they are necessaryincentives and investment in training and job retraining” with a strategy “clear and sustained over time”. “The reconversion processes have to be sustained over time and have to be an aggressive policy. Educational policy, efforts in education -particularly in regard to labor retraining- are a central strategy to keep the labor market healthy in the medium and long term”, he explained.
Working market
Market expectations for 2022
For O’Neill, this 2022 will be a year “equal to or better than 2021 in terms of employment and economic dynamism” and indicated that it is necessary “continue betting on exports of technological services” since these are “those who have been leading the demand for years”.
For that, the key is to promote the “training and education” for “improve the quality of human capital”. De la Llana, for his part, indicated that it will be a year “Okay” and pointed out that, in regard to the tourism sector, it will be necessary to “moderate expectations” in 2022 and assess the evolution of the pandemic. In the agro-export sector there will be a “continuity” of the situation “healthy” of 2021 and jobs will be generated.
Anyway, the director of O + H warned of a possible drop in the generation of jobs due to the exit of the UPM 2 project.
“Whenever structures of certain dimensions are established, after they are reduced, an impact is generated if there are no relief projects and in principle there are no relief projects on the horizon”, he explained.
