During 2021, 1.24 million of the 2.44 million jobs destroyed by the pandemic were recovered, and although the labor market showed signs of recovery in last year’s data, released this week by Dane, in terms of income there is still a significant lag.
(The employment outlook in Colombia in 2021, according to salary range).
Within the data presented by the statistical entity, it was shown how in the last two years the proportion of workers who earn less than a minimum wage increased, which in 2019 was 41.9% of the employed, by 2020 it increased to 46, 3% and for last year, Although it fell to 45.4%, which is equivalent to 9.2 million workers, it is still 3.5 points above the pre-pandemic figures.
On the other hand, the labor market figures also showed that only a small group of workers is above 2 minimum wages as a monthly income.
(Warning for raising the minimum and its effect on formal contracting).
In 2021 these were 10.3%, which represents only 2.1 million workers. And this proportion has been reduced in recent years, since in 2019 it reached 11.9% of workers, in 2020 it fell to 11% and in 2021 it did not recover.
According to Iván Jaramillo, a researcher at the Labor Observatory of the Universidad del Rosario, the figures show that although employment is recovering, wages are not improving at the same rate.
“This is an effect of the measures aimed at protecting jobs in the pandemic. The countries that have protected employment have done so at the expense of the workers’ income, so as not to remove some workers in the face of the situation, they established another yes in some contracts. Jobs were preserved but working conditions were also sacrificed”, explained the expert.
According to Jaramillo, in this recovery scenario these adjustments should be made again, but he points out that “these effects of deterioration are very difficult to reverse.
INFORMAL JOBS
Another relationship that the experts pointed out around these figures is how wages then show an increase in informal jobs.
“The proportion of people who are earning below the minimum is greater, employment is recovering, but in terms of wages, what this indicator shows us is that informal employment is recovering,” indicated Adrian Garlati, director of the Economics career at the Javeriana University.
According to the economist, what the figures provided by the Dane in terms of income reflected is that throughout the pandemic “it fell a lot” the proportion of those who earned a minimum, and highlighted that this was especially the case for those who work on their own, because they tend to be informal.
In this income group, in 2019 around 23.9% of the employed were in the minimum, but for 2021 it only reaches 18.3%.
“If you look at the series of labor income, these are still lower than those of 2019. Yes, a recovery in employment is being seen, which is not yet at the same levels, and it is recovering, but what is not clear it is how the quality of employment is recovering”, Garlatti pointed out.
In this regard, Jaramillo pointed out that “These figures show the deterioration in income” and that “the employed population that earns less than the minimum is ascribed to spaces of informality and lack of social protection”, this if one takes into account that the minimum wage works as a legal floor for formal hiring.
SALARIES BY SECTORS
The Dane released the average wages of workers according to their branch of activity, last year. In the case of manufacturing industries, the average wage income was $1,044,239. In construction, it was $978,619 on average, while in commerce the average labor salary was $879,737. In lodging and food services, that average salary was $639,831. in financial activities the average wage income in 2021 was $2,492,046 and in Information and communications $2,078,271.
LAURA LUCIA BECERRA ELEJALDE
