2026 begins and with it a new economic cycle. A cycle where work in Mexico is ceasing to be synonymous with employment, and formal employment is no longer a guarantee of stability.
For years, the aspiration was to have a permanent position, a constant salary and a signed contract. Today, that model is crumbling. And what was previously seen as an alternative—self-employment, independent work, the creation of personal projects—is becoming the new basis of the Mexican economy.
The end of a model that is no longer enough
Mexico reaches 2026 with clear signs: the traditional employment structure has fractured. The real average salary has practically not grown in a decade, and the gap between the cost of living and labor income continues to widen. Added to this is a market saturated with talent, where thousands of professionals, especially over 40 years of age, face enormous barriers to re-enter the workforce.
Many of them – engineers, accountants, technical specialists with years of experience – did not leave formal employment by choice, but by displacement. The result: more than half of the workers in Mexico today operate in informal conditions. And behind that figure there are stories of resilience, reinvention and, above all, adaptation.
When the system also breaks
This transition is neither theoretical nor gradual; is happening in front of us. According to figures published this week by Reforma, Mexico closed 2025 with the largest loss of employers recorded in more than two decades. Thousands of micro and small businesses lowered the curtain in the face of increased costs, uncertainty and the brake on credit.
Behind this data there is something more than a business crisis: there is a structural change. The model that supported formal employment is fragmenting, and that explains why the independent economy is emerging as the new engine of the country. When companies weaken, talent looks for alternative routes. And these routes are, increasingly, job autonomy, entrepreneurship and the offer of independent professional services.
The new face of Mexican work
What is emerging is a new working class: professionals who do not wait to be hired, but rather build their own place in the market. People who, faced with a lack of opportunities, decided to turn their experience into a value proposition.
They are no longer looking for a position; They seek purpose. They no longer compete for salary; They compete for relevance. And, above all, they are learning that income can depend less on an employer and more on their ability to generate solutions, products or knowledge.
This phenomenon is not marginal: the number of independent workers grew three times faster than formal employment in the last two years. That’s no coincidence. That’s adaptation.
From “little papers” to execution
For a long time we believed that the way to stay current was to accumulate diplomas: another course, another diploma, another workshop. But the reality of 2026 is starker and clearer: the economy no longer rewards certificates, but rather the ability to execute.
The current market does not pay titles, it pays results. Knowing how to apply what you know -sell, communicate, solve, execute- has become the new currency of value. And that marks a turning point: learning without action no longer protects anyone.
The professional who reinvents himself today is not the one who studies more, but rather the one who puts his knowledge to work in new ways.
The power of risk
There is no transformation without risk, but risk has another meaning today. It is no longer jumping without a net, but moving with purpose. The risk is not in moving, it is in staying where you no longer grow. Not in giving up, but in staying where the mind shuts down and the experience stops making sense.
That’s The Power of Risk: the ability to use uncertainty as a boost, not a brake. Because in an economy that changes so quickly, inaction is the new vulnerability.
And for those who today face the vertigo of reinventing themselves – professionals over 40 years old, with a solid career but without space in the formal system -, risk is also a form of freedom. The power is not in the payroll, but in the mentality.
The challenge for the State
This displacement not only impacts people. It also weakens the country’s contribution and social security base. Each professional who goes from formal employment to self-employment outside of security schemes represents less income for the system, fewer contributions and, consequently, fewer resources to operate sustainable public policies.
If more than 50% of the workforce no longer contributes, the current social protection model becomes unsustainable. Mexico needs to recognize that the independent economy is neither an exception nor a fad: it is a reality that requires new metrics, new incentives and flexible regulation that accompanies, rather than penalizes, labor reinvention.
Dare to change: the new job is your mentality
Mexico 2026 will not be remembered as the year of crises, but as the year of the change of model. Employment ceased to be the center of economic life; Now it is the ability to generate value with autonomy.
The worker of the future – who is already the worker of the present – will not seek stability, he will seek purpose. And whoever understands that the risk is not moving, but staying still, will find in this new cycle an opportunity to grow, not a threat.
The new job is not out there. It’s in your mentality. And the future, more than ever, will belong to those who dare to build it.
*The author is a mentor of Integral Transformation.
