Reconstruyendo la piedra Angular de la economía latinoamericana: ¿Cómo crear más y mejores empleos?

The document analyzes the labor market crisis in Latin America exacerbated by COVID-19, highlighting the vulnerability of women, youth, and informal workers. It argues that the region's dependence on primary exports and low economic complexity increase its vulnerability to external shocks. To address this, the brief recommends transitioning toward 'green jobs' and a more complex productive matrix. Key proposals include investing in energy-efficient housing, nature-based solutions, female labor inclusion, digitalization to reduce informality, and aligning education with the requirements of a carbon-neutral economy.

• The COVID-19 pandemic severely impacted the Latin American labor market, with at least 34 million jobs lost across 11 countries between February and December 2020, and unemployment potentially reaching 13.5%.
• Women were disproportionately affected by the crisis, experiencing a higher percentage of job loss (18.1%) compared to men (15.1%), largely due to their concentration in the tertiary sector and their roles as caregivers.
• Latin America's high vulnerability to external shocks is attributed to its low economic complexity and heavy reliance on primary commodity exports, with Mexico being the most complex economy in the region.
• The mining and energy sector is identified as capital-intensive rather than labor-intensive, posing a risk to long-term sustainable development and potentially leading to job losses during the transition to carbon neutrality by 2050.
• The document proposes five specific goals for job creation: developing energy-efficient housing, implementing nature-based solutions, promoting female labor inclusion, advancing digitalization to formalize work, and aligning education with industry needs for a just transition.
• Digitalization is presented as a tool to reduce economic informality, noting that while urban internet usage in countries like Paraguay, Chile, Mexico, and Colombia exceeds 70%, rural access in Mexico and Colombia is below 50%.
• The transition to a green economy is expected to displace approximately 7.5 million jobs in carbon-intensive industries, necessitating urgent retraining and skill development to avoid bottlenecks in sectors like renewable energy and building renovation.

APA

Transforma (2021). Reconstruyendo la piedra Angular de la economía latinoamericana: ¿Cómo crear más y mejores empleos? https://transforma.global/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/BRIEF-LS-REGIONAL-N2.pdf

Chicago

Transforma. Reconstruyendo la piedra Angular de la economía latinoamericana: ¿Cómo crear más y mejores empleos? 2021. https://transforma.global/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/BRIEF-LS-REGIONAL-N2.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=Transforma |title=Reconstruyendo la piedra Angular de la economía latinoamericana: ¿Cómo crear más y mejores empleos? |date=January 2021 |url=https://transforma.global/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/BRIEF-LS-REGIONAL-N2.pdf |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{transforma2021reconstruyendo, author = {{Transforma}}, title = {{Reconstruyendo la piedra Angular de la economía latinoamericana: ¿Cómo crear más y mejores empleos?}}, institution = {Transforma}, year = {2021}, month = jan, url = {https://transforma.global/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/BRIEF-LS-REGIONAL-N2.pdf}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }