LABOR FORCE
Labor Availability, Unemployment and Turnover Rates in Juárez.
Labor-force data is not collected and communicated in México in the same manner conducted in the United States. For instance, when Cd. Juárez quotes a 2.7 percent unemployment rate, they are counting every person who works at least two hours per week and in either the formal or informal labor force. It is important to note that citizens must be employed in order to access government services such as healthcare.
With a liberal definition of what “employed” means, unemployment rates are always artificially low in México. It is estimated that as much as 40 percent of the Juárez labor force participates in what is referred to as the “informal economy.” This is not illegal activity, rather activity that is not fully reported to Mexican taxing entities.
LABOR TURNOVER
With this in mind, companies tend to look at labor-turnover rates as a more accurate indicator of labor availability. One must use caution, however, in how these numbers are reported and interpreted. The official numbers reported to Seguro Social indicate that the average labor-turnover rate in Cd. Juárez is typically between 4 and 11 percent per month.
This does not mean that 72 to 84 percent of the workforce is turning over during the year. In the typical maquiladora operation, most of their labor turnover occurs during the first 30–60 days of a worker’s tenure. Once an employee remains beyond that initial 60-day window, they typically become part of that operation’s core workforce.
We have learned through dealing with industry in Juárez that beyond the 30–60 day window, monthly turnover drops to the 2 percent range for direct labor and nearly 0 percent for indirect and skilled labor. You can also look to the skill level required of individual maquiladora operations, and as in the United States, turnover will always be lower in maquiladoras that utilize higher levels of technology and require greater skills of their workforce. It is important to note that during the first 18–24 months following the trend to move manufacturing off shore to China in 2000 — along with the economic downturn in the United States beginning in 2001 — Juárez lost an estimated 85,000 maquiladora jobs. It has only regained about 70,000 jobs in the past 24–36 months.
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Average Wages by Occupation Monthly Earnings |
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Occupation |
Pesos |
U.S. Dollars |
|
Bilingual Secretary |
$14,963.93 |
$1,151.07 |
|
Quality Control Engineer |
$22,671.23 |
$1,743.94 |
|
Computer Programmer |
$19,117.65 |
$1,470.59 |
|
Production Supervisor |
$16,284.32 |
$1,252.64 |
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Product Design Engineer |
$25,022.68 |
$1,924.82 |
|
Equipment Maintenance |
$4,917.20 |
$378.25 |
|
Manufacturing Engineer |
$22,179.66 |
$1,706.13 |
|
Toolman |
$9,826.00 |
$755.85 |
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Electronics Technicians "A" |
$6,256.17 |
$481.24 |
|
Industrial Electrician |
$7,834.07 |
$602.82 |
|
Data Entry Clerk |
$6,272.55 |
$482.50 |
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Exchange Rate: 13 pesos per $1 Source: AMAC, Encuesta Salarios Enero 2010 Updated: July 2010 |
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Labor Force, Employment & Unemployment Rate |
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Population 14 & Over |
Labor Force |
Employment |
Unemployment |
% Rate |
|
950,656 |
646,446 |
629,000 |
17,446 |
2.7% |
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Source: State of Chihuahua CIES Updated: August 2007 Note: Census 2010 statistics will be available February 2011 |
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Employment by Industry |
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Industry |
No. of Employees |
Subordinate Workers |
Employers |
Self - Employed |
Not Specified |
|
Farmers |
1,561 |
1,228 |
333 |
0 |
0 |
|
Construction |
29,043 |
23,486 |
3,853 |
1,549 |
155 |
|
Manufacturers |
233,006 |
224,717 |
2,664 |
5,032 |
593 |
|
Services |
247,732 |
174,805 |
17,664 |
53,571 |
1,692 |
|
Commercial |
104,731 |
89,202 |
5,842 |
8,841 |
847 |
|
Not Specified |
12,927 |
10,807 |
620 |
414 |
1,086 |
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Source: State of Chihuahua CIES, 2006. Updated: August 2007 Note: Census 2010 Statistics will available February 2011 |
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