The lack of employment in Ecuador is pushing increasing numbers of young professionals to emigrate, officials and families said, amid voter pessimism about improvements promised by the presidential candidates competing to win the end-of-month elections.
Less than four out of 10 people that make up the economically active population had adequate employment in the second quarter of the year and more than half of the workers had informal activities, according to data from the country’s statistics office.
Outgoing President Guillermo Lasso, who called early elections to prevent lawmakers from removing him, had offered to create 2 million jobs.
His government has said that it managed to create around 500,000 new jobs in the two years of its administration.
The lack of employment is a daily challenge for many Ecuadorians, some of whom see migration, even in dangerous conditions, as the best option to improve their living conditions and that of their families, said Francis Romero, director of the Click Report polling firm. .
The main hopefuls to replace Lasso in the presidential elections have not said how many jobs they will create during his term, but have offered other proposals.
At the head is Luisa González, who has the support of former President Rafael Correa and obtained 29.3% support in a poll published on Tuesday by Click Report. She has promised tax breaks for companies that hire young people and protections for working mothers.
The indigenous candidate Yaku Pérez, with a 14.4% vote intention, offers to analyze the reduction of work hours and regularize the employees of digital platforms.
The pro-market candidate Otto Sonnenholzner, with 12.4% support, according to the poll, says that he will promote employment for older adults with entrepreneurship, while the conservative Jan Topic, with a 9.6% preference, has said that he will promote the contracting of works contracts and hourly contracts by free agreement between workers and employers.
Former assemblyman Fernando Villavicencio, with a 7.5% vote intention, promises private investment in the agricultural sector to create more jobs.
More than 16.8% of those surveyed said they would not vote for either candidate, according to the poll with a sample of more than 3,000 cases applied on August 5 and 6.
None of the candidates, who must have more than 50% of the valid votes or more than 40% with a difference of 10 points ahead of their closest rival to win in the first round, have included immigration policies in their campaign proposals.
“We are very tired of the false promises of the rulers, the hopes are nil”, said Jefferson Goyburo, a taxi driver in Guayaquil, whose 21-year-old son Luis decided to migrate to Spain due to the lack of employment and the need for money to face medical expenses in the family.
“Sometimes I feel like crying because there is no longer a job or security for anyone in this country”he added.
The increase in violence is also a major problem for Ecuadorian voters: more than 3,500 violent deaths were recorded in the first half of 2023.
new migratory wave
The government says some 822,000 Ecuadorians between the ages of 18 and 45 left for other countries on a regular basis through June. In all of 2022, the registry added almost 1.4 million people.
The main destinations were the United States, Colombia, Peru and Europe. Likewise, Ecuador received more than 600,000 foreigners in its territory, mostly Venezuelans, increasing the demand for employment.
“Many activities of human mobility can undoubtedly be due to the lack of employment, due to the lack of security”acknowledged the undersecretary of Migration, Fausto Iñiguez, to Reuters. “They are also family and personal growth projections.”
The government does not have figures on risky migration, but has acknowledged the existence of criminal groups that negotiate the transfer of people.
Some 25,000 Ecuadorians have transited irregularly this year through the Darién Gap that joins Colombia and Panama, one of the most dangerous points for migrants seeking to reach the United States, after adding almost 29,000 in all of 2022, according to data from the Panama Immigration office.
“Migration is due to lack of employment”, said Flor Haro, director of the Family Without Borders Foundation, which provides information on migration and is receiving four times the previous number of requests, some 2,000 per month. “It is a new migratory wave, it cannot be taken as an isolated issue.”
“What is worrying is that the authorities make this movement invisible, despite the fact that migration helps the country to have remittances (…) that is placating the issue of unemployment”he added.
The Central Bank of Ecuador (BCE) said that remittances sent by Ecuadorian migrants to the country grew by 8% to 1,192 million dollars in the first quarter of 2023 compared to the same period last year.
Source: AFP
Source: Gestion
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