Ismael Bermúdez
05/30/2020 - 15:07
- Clarín.com
- Economy
- Economy
The official figures of the Social Security mark both a collapse of the registered positions of workers in relation to dependency and a drop in the contributions of the independent professions.
Thus, in April, companies declared 254,244 fewer formal jobs in March than in the same month of 2019. And 91,237 fewer than in the previous month , according to figures from the AFIP Social Security Bulletin. And this despite the fact that since December 13, according to DNU 34/2019, the double compensation for dismissals without cause has been in force for 180 days. Then, as of March 31, it was reinforced with the direct prohibition of layoffs "without just cause and for the reasons of lack or reduction of work and force majeure" for 60 days, extended another 60 days (until the end of July).
In April 2019, the jobs declared by the companies totaled 8,043,592. A year later, last month, they totaled 7,789,348. They are 254,244 less. In April 2020 they were 7,880,575.
The job losses compared to the previous month covered almost all sectors, especially construction, industry, commerce , in activities related to tourism and recreation, while they increased in private education as a reflection of the beginning of the school year in March, which, with the quarantine, then discontinued.
In relation to April 2019, the greatest collapse was in construction: from 460,712 a year ago, last month 358,707 were declared: a loss of 102,005 jobs.
All these numbers indicate a new peak in the destruction of jobs that could hardly and only very partially be reversed in a recovery phase.
In any case, although they declared that number of jobs, due to financial difficulties or lack of income, companies paid less contributions: 4,530,532 in April compared to 5,608,244 in March and 6,092,070 in April 2019.
In part, this was reflected in the Social Security collection, which in April had a 25% drop, discounting inflation, to which was added the extension of the payment of employer contributions and the reduction of the rate for the health sector.
In greater proportion is the fall of the monotributistas and self-employed contributors.
In April, 1,605,553 “pure” monotributistas paid their contributions, so-called because they have no other job, compared to 1,729,145 in March. They are 123,592 less. And among the self-employed it was reduced from 860,058 to 793,115: 66,943 less.
The dependent jobs such as the contributions of self-employed and monotributistas, with few ups and downs, have been declining from 2017 onwards and continued in these first months of 2020. For example, in January of this year they contributed 956,714 self-employed and 1,911,109 monotributistas. In total 2,867,823 versus 2,398,668 in April: almost half a million less.
Thus, if until the eve of the coronavirus there was a cocktail of loss of formal jobs in relation to dependency and cessation of activities of monotributistas and self-employed workers unprecedented in intensity and duration, with quarantine this process is increasing and the data from May, reflecting April's activity, will be more adverse. And although there were relief measures implemented by the government - payment of the complementary salary and zero-rate loans to monotributistas and self-employed - they were only palliative in the midst of an almost total paralysis of economic activity last month.
