Enrique had a small shop selling auto parts in the north of Guayaquil, but with the pandemic – 2020 – his economic stability collapsed. He searched for a job for two years, but due to his 55 years of age, he was unattainable until he got a job at a shrimp farm at the end of March last year.

The former trader is now part of the 2,967,972 people in Ecuador who had full employment as of the last quarter, according to the National Institute of Statistics and Census (INEC). However, despite the drop in unemployment by 1.2 percent, 324,904 people are still looking for work, and another 1,701,796 are underemployed, figures that on this May 1, Labor Day, are more valid in the one about which six actors give their opinion on this labor market. what Ecuador lacks to create more jobs.

For Javier Pino, age should not be a barrier to getting a job. Fd Ronald Cedeno Photo: Space

Employee: “There should be more opportunities for people over 40”

Enrique’s story is very familiar to Javier Pino, who has been working as a messenger for Ecokakao for a year. Pin lost his job due to the pandemic after five years at his previous company and was unemployed for a year until he managed to find himself again in 2022.

He assures that it was “too” difficult for him to get a job because of his age. “There must be an opportunity for everyone, for all ages, because in certain years job applications do not go through, they are sought after until the age of 38, 40,” says the 43-year-old employee.

Pin believes that a worker who loses his job at age 40 loses almost all chance of ever retiring. It cannot be that someone becomes unemployed at the age of 60 or 65, one cannot retire and well, if you are unemployed for 40 years, you have lost yourself”, laments the messenger.

For businessman Miguel Rossignolli, bureaucracy must be reduced, microeconomics promoted, and the labor market made more flexible. Photo: Courtesy of Miguel Rossignolli

Businessman: “You have to think more about the people who are on the street, and less about the big industrialists, and start the micro-economy in the country”

For businessman Miguel Rossignolli, the recipe for creating more jobs in the country is clear: reduce bureaucracy and obstacles for employers, promote the micro-economy and make the labor market more flexible.

Rossignolli has a business group consisting of three companies: Ecovitali, Lugisa and Presto, dedicated to services, technology and international trade.

He admits that the government has done its part in signing international agreements that open markets, but says that this only works for companies that currently have existing production capacity, with the capacity to go or capital that can promote these projects, but assures that 60% of local the market does not have the money to create the spending framework necessary to activate the micro-economy.

He believes that the state should focus on a simple unplanned tax collection once a year, with random controls, to allow the economy to flow, tax-free and without restrictions, with compressed political, technical and legal power to reduce paperwork as much as possible and the economy with access to new sources of credit.

Carlos Cevallos, who has been running a food store for 7 years, confirms that employment discrimination based on age must be eliminated and youth employment promoted; in addition to regulating occasional contracts. Photo: Courtesy of Carlos Cevallos

Entrepreneur: “Employment of young workers must be balanced without jeopardizing the continuity of employment of those who are about to retire”

Three years ago, Carlos Cevallos had to start a business after seven years without a job.

“Unfortunately, companies do not choose people over 40 years old, they think they are not productive,” laments Cevallos as he delivers lunches to the workers of various constructions.

Affirms that discrimination in employment based on age must be eliminated and youth employment promoted; in addition to regulating occasional contracts. “We should all benefit.”

“Workers with more than 20 years of service or over 50 should not be fired based on age alone. Employment of young workers must be balanced without jeopardizing the continuity of employment of those who are about to retire. In order for the country to develop well, it is necessary to invest in improving education,” says Cevallos.

Pedro Posligua is the owner of the Sexy Stop store. He assures that encouraging investment through tax breaks and reducing bureaucratic barriers will attract companies that want to invest in the country. Photo: courtesy of Pedro Posligu

Merchant: “There must be tax incentives and encourage youth employment”

Pedro Posligua has been working in the trade for 18 years, and the last in adult articles as the owner of the Sexy Stop store.

He talks about encouraging investment through tax breaks and reducing bureaucratic obstacles to attract companies that want to invest in the country.

Also strengthen the education system and the training of workers to improve the quality and productivity of the country’s workforce.

Posligua is committed to reducing the regulatory burden. “You can simplify the process of creating companies and improve the business climate, which can attract more investment and create jobs,” explains the trader, who also warns that youth employment is a key issue in Ecuador, as many young people face difficulties in finding employment and gaining work experience.

Do you think that the mentoring project and training they can guide young people very early and give advice on optimal career choices and thus discover attitudes without wasting time.

Juan Torres, a banana producer for 20 years, believes that the production of jobs would increase, especially in the countryside, if the laws were respected. Photo: Courtesy of Carlos Torres

Producer: “Laws must be followed so that the producer gets a fair wage and can generate more business”

Juan Torres has been producing bananas in the province of Los Ríos for 20 years. Today, May 1, he will work like every day, because he assures that there are no holidays in the countryside, nor is there respect for the law, and he regrets that there is no horizon and direction in the agricultural area at the state level.

An example of this, according to Torres, is what is happening with the Banana Law and the minimum support price.

It ensures that farmers who are not getting a fair wage must stop employing people on their farms. Torres talks about $4 or $3 per box of bananas, when the minimum payment is $6.50, and recalls that in 2022, with the outbreak of war between Russia and Ukraine, they received up to $0.80 per box.

“What is needed is for the laws to be respected, for us to have order, to change the way we act,” says the banana grower, who assures that non-compliance with the law creates inconveniences for creating jobs, especially in the rural sector.

Among the solutions proposed by entrepreneur and exporter Kléber Sigüenza are changes to labor laws and social security.

Exporter: “Labor law must be changed to allow for dynamic schedules and employment”

Kléber Sigüenza, manager of Orodelti, which is dedicated to the production of bananas, cacao trees and sugar cane and exports mainly to the United States and Europe, says that in order to create more jobs, a major national agreement must be reached to completely or at least partially amend the labor law as dynamic schedules and employment would be enabled.

Also make changes in social security to enable individual savings and competition from private funds; and gradually reduce the protectionist production system of official prices and high tariffs on raw materials and imported goods that make national production more expensive and reduce the purchasing power of wages.

He also believes that inefficient public companies that waste scarce public resources must be eliminated in order to prioritize investments, security, justice, health and quality public education. Finally, allow private investment in the maintenance and construction of roads and bridges.