Between December 2019 and the same month of 2020, the number of employees contributing to Social Security decreased 3%, a fall that is explained by the economic crisis generated by the outbreak of covid-19.
Official data show that Sacatepéquez, Quetzaltenango and Guatemala were the most affected departments, as the drop in the number of contributors in these regions amounted to 9%, 7% and 4.5%, respectively.
How much should be paid in benefits such as bonuses and incentives to part-time workers is one of the doubts that arise among employers after the new regulation enters into force.
According to the authorities of the Ministry of Labor, in the case of the payment of bonus 14 and incentive, the companies must make a disbursement proportional to the salary earned by the part-time worker.
In Guatemala between May 2017 and the same month in 2018, trade and services companies led the generation of new formal jobs, with 11,000 and 10,000 new positions, respectively.
According to figures from the Guatemalan Social Security Institute, the number of contributors in general has not changed significantly, since in May of this year 1,334,527 registered workers were counted, exceeding by just 0.3% the 1,329,656 employees registered up to the fifth month of 2017.
In the first quarter of 2018, the manufacturing and services sectors recorded falls of 4,000 and 7,000, respectively, in the monthly average number of affiliates to the social insurance scheme compared to 2017.
One example of the contraction observed in industrial activity is what occured in free zones.The Association of Private Free Zones of Guatemala explained that due to the closure of more than one hundred companies, some 1,500 jobs have been lost.
The service sector is the fastest-growing (19.9%) with 53,129 social security contributors, about 8,850 more than in the same period in 2012. Up until last September 113,067 new contributors signed up, 15,104 more than the 97,963 reported in the same period last year.
Up until September 113 067 new contributors signed up , 15,104 more than the 97,963 reported in the same period last year.