Unemployment in Colombia.
When it comes to employment, the situation in Colombia is becoming more serious. According to the international definition, a person is classified as underemployed when she works less than 32 hours per week or when her employment does not correspond to her level of qualification. Currently 20 percent of the employed population is considered underemployed. Of that total, 58 percent are women and 51 percent are high school graduates.
Unemployment has become one of the biggest problems for Colombia because with the pandemic that we are currently experiencing with only half a month of confinement, 1.9 million people became unemployed or inactive, also experts argue that it is vital to reach a social agreement that includes a labor reform.
The situation is much more serious than what the figures are telling us. That is one of the problems generated by the speed at which the events associated with COVID-19 are unfolding and many people become infected.
When a person does not have a job and has to support his family, he goes out to look for a job so that when he is exposed, not following confinement, he could get COVID-19 and when he gets home, his family could also become infected.
The central uncertainty at this time for the authorities, businessmen and analysts is how far the impact will go and with what unemployment rate the country should face post-pandemic.
But that is perhaps just the first obstacle. Whether it be with three, four, five and even six million new unemployed, the question that the country must begin to answer is how are we going to face such a state of affairs in the labor market.
Nobody is clear how and how far the coronavirus reaches in its economic impact, with which there is also no certainty about what type of jobs will be demanded after the pandemic.
This situation is very serious, the country is in insecurity, the economy is getting worse and worse and no one knows what will happen.
For now, we must follow all the confinement rules for the COVID-19 and be attentive to what the government says in the face of this very delicate situation. Given that although some businesses are already opening, people are more exposed to this virus, and more and more persons are infected.
- María José Durán, Step 9.
