Ismael Bermúdez
07/05/2020 - 11:27
- Clarín.com
- Economy
- Economy
In April, an unprecedented event occurred : on average, registered workers in the private sector earned less in April than in March. Thus, private “blank” wages fell not only in the face of inflation. They decreased in nominal terms , hand in hand with the collapse in employment and the increase in suspensions with reduced wages. And this happened despite the fact that the State, through the ANSeS, paid 2.3 million workers a part of the private wages.
Data from the Ministry of Labor say that the wages of workers in relation to dependency registered in the private sector fell 7.9% in nominal terms. If inflation is discounted, the drop is 9.2%. This arises from calculating the total wage bill in relation to the number of registered private sector employees. Specifically, some suffered the fall due to suspensions or salary cuts. Others kept their incomes unchanged or some even had an improvement.
In April, the average gross nominal remuneration reached $ 56,837. In March it had been $ 61,698: that's $ 4,861 less. Meanwhile, half of private workers received less than $ 44,846 in April when they had earned less than $ 46,390 in March. To obtain the pocket salary at these values, 17% must be discounted (11% for retirement and 6% for Health) and with higher salaries, the retention of earnings.
Statistics from the Ministry of Labor do not contain data on public sector salaries including provinces and municipalities.
Already in March, registered wages increased less than inflation and the improvement they had in the first months of the year was reversed due to the fixed-sum increases that benefited the least earning wage earners and the renewals of some joint ventures.
However, with what happened in March and more accentuated in April, according to Work, “in real terms, taking into account the variation in the price level, in April 2020 the average remuneration fell 5.1%, compared to the same month from the previous year and the median remuneration decreased 2.8% ”.
These numbers do not include informal wage earners where the wage loss is much higher. According to INDEC, informal wages represent only a third of those registered, and in April they increased by just 32.5%, accumulating a 12-month loss of 9% in real terms. And in one year they went from representing 35% to 35.8% in the first quarter of this year.
As Clarín reported , in April, the data from the Ministry of Labor registered 228,400 fewer workers than in March, 185,800 less in the seasonally adjusted version and 364,000 less than in the same month of 2019. And according to the data declared by employers, during April 60,000 private companies suspended 715,000 workers with a salary reduction of up to 25%. This figure is equivalent to 12% of salaried employees in the private sector.
The Work Report, based on data from the Ministry of Productive Development, indicates that in April the complementary salary of between one and two minimum wages (between $ 16,875 and $ 33,750) reached 2,340,000 employees in 245,000 companies, "that is, more 40% of female employees and companies in the country received the benefit ”.
The Report details: “Manufacturing and Commerce concentrate just over half of the total number of workers benefiting from the program. With respect to the proportion of employees covered in each sector, hotels and restaurants have the highest coverage: 82% of employees receive part of the salary through the program. Then followed in importance, Commerce, Construction and Industry, where around 60% of the registered workers in each sector received the subsidy. Within the industrial sector, the manufacture of motor vehicles and metal products are the branches where the program has the greatest impact ”.
