Young professionals in Argentina earn one-third of what they would make in Chile and half of what they would get in Peru

RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – According to a survey by Adecco, a young professional working in Argentina earns a third of what they would make in Chile, half of what they would earn in Peru, and 35% less than what they would be paid in Mexico or Brazil.

“Young people are trapped in a circle when they start their working career: they are asked for experience, but nobody gives them that first job, so it will be difficult for them to acquire it and there is a significant circle of informal jobs” explained Carla Cantisani, Adecco’s director for Argentina and Uruguay.

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Among those who are employed, they work mainly in office administrative tasks (23.5%), commercial, sales, and marketing (20.3%), industry (14.1%), systems (4%), hotel, catering, and gastronomy (3%), others (32.3%).

According to Adecco, members of “Generation Z” (born between 1997 and 2004) in Argentina earn an average of ARS50,000 (US$491) per month, the lowest salary in the region. The unemployment rate in this age group is 26% and doubles that of the total population, which in the second quarter of the year stood at 9.6%.

The survey showed a significant lack of knowledge of government strategies to encourage the development of youth employment. Some 52% said they were unaware of such policies, 40% said they did not exist, and only 7.6% said they were aware of the implementation of programs in this regard.

The study indicated that 81% of those surveyed would like to change jobs, while only 19% indicated that they would like to continue working in the same place.

Meanwhile, 74% said they could have better professional development working for a foreign employer, while 25.4% considered that it would be better to grow professionally with a local employer.

According to the survey, 76.5% of those consulted said that remote work offers more significant opportunities for young people, while 23.5% said the opposite. Regarding the type of work they prefer, 42% of those surveyed indicated that they prefer remote work, and 39% prefer face-to-face work.

Likewise, 87.6% believe teleworking offers better prospects for working abroad, while 12.4% said it does not, and 19% said they have never worked in a home office.

According to the report, what young people value most about remote work is the flexibility (42.3%), the cost savings for commuting to work (25.5%), the possibility of sharing more time with people living at home (18.3%), having more free time (9.6%) and others (4.2%).

Looking at the new work scenario brought about by the coronavirus pandemic, 36.8% said they preferred to continue working from home, 24% opted to return to on-site work. In comparison, 39.1% opted for a hybrid model combining both modalities.