Regional dynamics post pandemic of the Ecuadorian labor market

The pandemic caused by COVID-19, amplified the economic and social gaps of the country and highlighted important structural weaknesses of the Ecuadorian labor market such as high unemployment, informality, low income, among others. Between 2019 and 2020, the unemployment rate at the national level increased by 1.2%, the employment rate in the informal sector increased by 4.40%, and the average labor income decreased by 10.16%(Mendoza and Jara, 2020). Informal economies have a limited capacity for recovery to the crisis caused by pandemic, relating it to greater problems of poverty and difficulties for economic growth. In this context, studying work informality, unemployment and labor income is relevant to decision making; Know the spatial differences of these phenomena, as well as the types of informality that coexist within the country. Two types of informality can be mentioned, the first is made up of the group of workers who choose to work in this sector, while the second, are those lagging of the formal sector (García 2017, Jütting et al. 2008). In addition, informality usually has a gender connotation, since women face the dilemma between home and work care (Maloney, 2004). With the aim of providing evidence for decision -making and public policies, a comparative analysis of the Ecuadorian and Chilean labor market is proposed. It is emphasized that the average informal occupation rate for Chile was 28.4% (2018-2019), the incidence in women (approximately 2% higher) being greater), this rate decreased by around 1 percentage point in 2021, so knowing the mechanisms that cause this decrease is relevant to the design of public policies. In addition, normative considerations will be proposed in order to promote improvements in labor market conditions.

XIX UNIVERSITY COMPETITION FOR RESEARCH PROJECTS