MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Impending job losses to deepen Argentina's crisis in the short run

Impending job losses to deepen Argentina's crisis in the short run

The administration of President Javier Milei is planning not to renew the contracts of some 7,000 state workers, which would add to the hardships many Argentine families are going through amid deep reforms to recover from the country's current crisis, it was reported in Buenos Aires.

According to La Nación, a new presidential decree would announce the termination of these labor relationships after Dec. 31. The emergency decree (DNU) would also provide for the assessment phase of all government structures for the next 90 days to determine which of the other positions will be maintained and which will not, leading to a possible new phase of job cuts which will bypass “quotas regulated by law or other types of special protection,” such as those for transsexual or disabled people.

The National Public Administration (APN) is made up of 393,000 workers, of whom 193,000 are civilians. Some are reached by the Labor Act and others by the National Public Employment Framework Act. Those under the latter will not be affected by the restructuring, it was explained.

In this scenario, Confederation of Construction SMEs of the Argentine Republic (CPC), President Gerardo Antonio Fernández fears some 2 million people would be left jobless after Milei announced a halt in all public works. “It is impossible to do without public works,” he said.

He also warned that “a border school, a water network or a health center in the interior of the country are not profitable works that can be financed and sold like any other good.” The entity brings together more than 900 national SME construction companies, mainly for public and private architectural works.

However, Fernández insisted that Milei had guaranteed unrestricted compliance with current contracts. He also wondered why it would be necessary not to dismantle the Ministry of National Infrastructure amid so many reforms if public works were to be eliminated.