Opinion | Six keys to curb unemployment caused by the coronavirus

Editor's Note: Roberto Rave is a political scientist with a postgraduate degree in international business and foreign trade from the Externado University of Colombia and the Columbia University of New York. With studies in Management from the IESE University of Spain and candidate for MBA from the University of Miami. He is a columnist for the Colombian economic newspaper La República. He was chosen by the International Republican Institute as one of the 40 most influential young leaders on the continent.

(CNN Spanish) - This pandemic has awakened so many considerations in us that perhaps it can confuse us. It is possible to rave between frustration and hopelessness; or between the certainty of faith and the hope of a more moved and sensitive humanity. Stop pointing to internalize, stop blaming governments, to try harder and choose good and few politicians, because we need more entrepreneurs and less politicians.

What seemed safe for a growing middle class in Latin America is no longer, and in the blink of an eye, the unemployment rate could increase by between 4 and 5 percentage points, leading in the coming weeks to more than 40 million unemployed in the region, according to calculations by the International Labor Organization. Governments tied by their inability to solve everything, as usual, have turned to the box-office populist role in Latin America during these last decades and on the eve of elections in countries like Colombia and Ecuador, they run the risk of being left in the hands of those who support the old Marxist ideas and understand equality as a mere totalitarian opinion that also eliminates meritocracy.

• Unemployment soars in Latin America as a result of the coronavirus

The former president of the United States, Ronald Reagan, aptly asserted in 1980 that the best social program is a job. This phrase, more valid today than ever, should mark the north of Latin America's economic recovery. Along this path, six important considerations are made to stop this unemployment pandemic that promises to increase over time, worsening social conditions, which could generate more chaos and violence in the region:

1. Do not let the business fabric that has cost so much to build die. Companies are transcendental actors in social mobilization and the creation of well-being. Its destruction also breaks with the social fabric. Entrepreneurs who understand their role in the world have done everything possible to stay afloat in this crisis. I personally know the story of a good friend who sold his properties and his car to cover wages for the next three months.
2. Reactivate in a controlled way the different economic sectors without any difference. That is, if we can go to a supermarket with controlled protocols, we can also go to a museum or to some cultural activity keeping the social distance, using the required mask and other biosafety regulations.

3. The pandemic should be an opportunity for many countries in the region to remove obstacles to business creation. There is no other way to get out of this complex situation than through incentives for companies and with them the decrease in unemployment and the great illness of informality that plagues our region. At the same time, we must make foreign investment in the region more attractive, also bearing in mind that corporate destruction results in less tax collection, which hits the coffers of governments. ECLAC estimates tax evasion in Latin America at US $ 325,000 million.

• Another 1.5 million Americans applied for unemployment benefits for the first time last week

4. Make labor regulations more flexible, guaranteeing employee protection, but without ignoring the effort and importance of employers. This in order to create jobs in a more agile and efficient way. Cheaper and simplify the hiring of employees by unifying the different costs into a comprehensive salary and thinking about hourly wages, respecting the dignity of the worker and in common agreement with the employer.

5. Education for work must be rethought by increasing the capacity of our human capital and filling gaps in issues such as bilingualism and technological systems. Retraining should also be a priority. 65% of today's elementary or primary school students will work in jobs that do not currently exist.

6. Less state and more individual and business awareness. The discussion of Professor Rag Sisodia about capitalism with leaders and therefore companies more aware of its importance in the social transformation of the world is necessary.

With the different criticisms that the handling of the crisis in the United States may provoke, in the last month, 4.8 million jobs were recovered, a not insignificant figure for our region. The path to economic recovery is undoubtedly job creation.

To conclude, it is important to say that individual and corporate responsibility must be assumed globally, while governments, for their part, must remove obstacles to the free development of the protagonists of progress: business.

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