Argentina State Jobs Fall by 72,440 Under Milei, INDEC Data Show
ARGENTINA · ECONOMY
Key Facts
- —The cut The national government and its companies employed 269,025 people in August 2026, down from 341,465 in December 2023 (INDEC, 30 September 2026).
- —In percent That is 72,440 fewer jobs, or about 21%, since President Javier Milei took office.
- —Latest month August 2026 brought 1,446 fewer jobs than July, a fall of 0.5%; the yearly fall was 5.8%.
- —The pace The cuts are slowing: about 39,600 jobs went in 2024, about 21,700 in 2025 and about 11,100 from January to August 2026.
- —Biggest cuts Central ministries lost 17,248 posts; the state post office lost 5,604 and the state train operator 4,352.
Argentina state jobs have fallen by about a fifth since December 2023, but the pace of cuts has slowed sharply in 2026.
Argentina’s national government and its state companies employed 269,025 people in August 2026, 72,440 fewer than in December 2023. The figures come from INDEC, the national statistics institute, which published its monthly staffing report on 30 September.
What the INDEC data show
The total fell from 341,465 in December 2023, the month President Javier Milei took office, to 269,025 in August 2026. That is a cut of about 21% in under three years.
In August alone the payroll shrank by 1,446 people, or 0.5%, compared with July. Compared with August 2025, it was 5.8% smaller.
The report covers the national public administration and companies owned by the national state. It does not count people who work for Argentina’s 23 provinces, the city of Buenos Aires or local councils.
Where the jobs went
The central administration, meaning the ministries themselves, lost the most: 17,248 posts, down to 37,543. That is almost a third of its December 2023 staff.
Among single bodies, Correo Argentino, the state postal service, cut 5,604 jobs, to 11,252. Operadora Ferroviaria, which runs the national commuter trains, cut 4,352, to 19,460.
ARCA, the national tax and customs agency, lost 3,392 posts. ANSES, the social security agency that pays pensions, lost 2,985.
CONICET, the national science research council, lost 2,863 posts. Banco Nación, the largest state bank, lost 2,264, and the state airline Aerolíneas Argentinas lost 1,947.
State companies as a group went from 110,160 workers to 87,145. In August their payroll fell by 158 people.
The long view: a payroll that had not moved
Before Milei, the national payroll had been flat for years. It stood at 341,067 in December 2022 and 341,465 a year later, according to the INDEC series.
Decentralised agencies, which run their own budgets, shrank from 136,529 workers to 109,988. They include ANSES, the tax agency and CONICET.
PAMI, the health insurer for retired people, went from 14,253 staff to 12,687. It belongs to the group of “other bodies”, which shrank by 2.9% in August alone.
From July 2022 to November 2023, the total stayed between about 339,000 and 343,400. The INDEC series does not go further back.
Why the government is cutting
Milei, an economist who calls himself a libertarian, won the 2023 election promising to take a chainsaw to public spending. A smaller state payroll is part of his plan to balance the budget.
Federico Sturzenegger, the minister for deregulation and state transformation, reacted on social media after the release. “We keep lowering spending so we can keep lowering taxes,” he wrote, El Litoral reported.
In November 2025 El Litoral reported that the government planned to cut about 10% of state staff, close to 28,000 posts. It said the cuts would come from contracts not renewed and voluntary retirement plans.
A slower pace in 2026
The steepest cuts came early. About 39,600 jobs went during 2024, and about 21,700 more in 2025, according to the INDEC series.
From January to August 2026 the payroll shrank by about 11,100. That is well short of the 28,000 cut the government was reported to be planning.
In each month of 2026 the payroll fell by between 0.25% and 0.7%. There was no month this year without a fall.
What it means for people and investors
For investors, the cuts are part of the spending restraint the government says makes tax cuts possible. For the families affected, a lost state post means looking for work in the private sector.
That search is not easy: Argentina’s jobless rate rose to 7.9% in the second quarter of 2026, INDEC reported in September. It was the highest rate since 2021.
Foreign residents deal most with one body in the count: Migraciones, the national immigration office. Its staff fell from 4,154 in December 2023 to 3,841 in August 2026.
What the figures do not show
The INDEC report counts posts, not people who were dismissed. How many left through retirement, voluntary exit or contracts that ended is not stated in the report.
Some bodies send their numbers late, so INDEC estimates them and revises later. In July, estimated figures made up 5.2% of the total.
INDEC publishes these figures every month, about four weeks after the month ends. The September figures will show whether the slower pace of 2026 holds.
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Frequently Asked Questions
How many state jobs has Argentina cut under Milei?
INDEC data show 72,440 fewer jobs in the national government and state companies between December 2023 and August 2026. The total fell from 341,465 to 269,025.
Does the figure include provincial and city workers?
No. The INDEC report covers only the national public administration and companies owned by the national state. Staff of the provinces, the city of Buenos Aires and local councils are not counted.
Are the cuts speeding up or slowing down?
They are slowing. About 39,600 jobs went in 2024 and about 21,700 in 2025, but only about 11,100 from January to August 2026.
Sources: El Litoral · El Litoral (November 2025) · INDEC, staffing series to August 2026 · INDEC, staffing report July 2026
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