Peronist government of Argentina will give incentives to convert social plans into formal employment

The president of Argentina, Alberto Fernandez, signed a decree to grant incentives with the aim of converting the social assistance plans granted by the State to people from vulnerable sectors into formal jobs.

The decree, published this Tuesday in the Official Gazette, affirms that one of the main objectives of the Government is that the different employment, labor inclusion and socio-productive development programs aimed at unemployed people or those with precarious jobs “become mechanisms that encourage incorporation ”From these workers to registered salaried employment or to other modes of development of formal productive activities.

“We want to end the lack of work in Argentina. Today the decree was published that orders my ministers to carry out all the necessary measures so that those who today receive a plan from the Government turn that plan into genuine work, ”Fernández said at a ceremony in the southern city of Comodoro Rivadavia.

The decree creates a general framework to grant incentives that will then be adapted to each sector of economic activity.

As provided by Fernández, the benefits and incentives will be granted under two requirements: a net increase in the payroll of the employer’s personnel that adheres to the program and the setting of maximum limits for workers reached.

The money that a beneficiary currently receives from a social plan will be considered as part of his salary when he joins a formal job for a certain period of time.

The decree was signed by Fernández at a time when demands for formal jobs are growing and there is a debate within the ruling Frente de Todos on the scope of social plans in Argentina.

Severely affected by the COVID-19, Argentina’s economy collapsed 9.9% in 2020 and this year, despite the recovery in activity, severe social problems persist, with a poverty rate of 40.6% in the first semester.

Meanwhile, the unemployment rate fell in the second quarter of the year to 9.6%, its lowest level since the end of 2019, but with high rates of informality and little creation of jobs in the formal sector.

After the electoral defeat suffered by Peronism in the primary elections of last September, the debate within the Government on social plans and employment problems has intensified.

The high level of poverty and indigence forces the Peronist government to maintain social assistance, but the demand is growing, even among social organizations that benefit from social plans, for the creation of formal jobs that guarantee families a better income.