Chile Labour Reforms Cost US$4 Billion, Shipping Chief Says as Jobless Rate Hits 9.6%
ECONOMY · CHILE
Key Facts
- —The country Chile, the world’s largest copper producer. Unemployment reached 9.6% in June–August 2026, the national statistics institute (INE) reported on 30 September.
- —What happened On 30 September Óscar Hasbún, chairman of shipping group CSAV, said wage, working-hours and pension reforms add US$4 billion in labour costs, La Tercera reported.
- —The numbers He set that against about US$50 billion in yearly formal-sector profits and called it 10%; the ratio is nearer 8%. Informal employment stood at 26.3% (INE, June–August 2026).
- —What it means for you No rule has changed. Employers and investors should watch whether President Kast’s government trims the labour agenda or offers small firms targeted help instead.
- —Still open Whether the reforms drove informality. Former labour minister Giorgio Boccardo says the Central Bank puts the minimum-wage effect at 0.1 to 0.3 points of unemployment (La Tercera, 15 September).
A leading Chilean businessman says Chile labour reforms cost the formal economy about US$4 billion and pushed workers into informal jobs. Óscar Hasbún, chairman of the shipping holding Compañía Sudamericana de Vapores (CSAV), made the claim in a Radio Duna interview on Wednesday 30 September, La Tercera reported.
His remarks landed on the day official figures put unemployment at 9.6%, its highest in more than five years. The figure has not been independently costed, and defenders of the reforms dispute the link he draws.
What the CSAV chairman said
Hasbún listed three measures: minimum-wage increases, the law cutting the working week to 40 hours, and the pension reform. The working week fell to 42 hours in April 2026, with the final step to 40 still ahead.
He called himself “a big fan” of the pension law, which raises employer contributions. His objection is to the combined cost, which he said falls hardest on small and medium-sized firms rather than large companies.
He compared the US$4 billion with roughly US$50 billion that formal companies earn a year, calling it 10% of profits. On his own numbers the share is closer to 8%.
That cost, he argued, opens “an enormous gap” between formal and informal work. “What we are seeing is growth in informality and a fall in formality,” he said.
What the new jobs data show
The INE survey published the same morning partly fits his account. Formal salaried employment fell 2.9% in a year, and total employment dropped 0.9%.
Informality moved far less than the word “growth” suggests. The informal employment rate rose 0.3 points to 26.3%, and the number of informal workers grew only 0.3%.
Manufacturing and information and communications shed the most jobs, the INE said. Average weekly hours worked fell 1.6% to 36.4, and total hours worked dropped 2.4%.
The rate has been climbing for months. It stood at 9.5% in May–July, as reported in Chile Unemployment Rate Climbs to 9.5%, a Five-Year High.
The case for Chile labour reforms
Giorgio Boccardo, labour minister under former president Gabriel Boric, rejects the view that Chile labour reforms explain the rise. In a Radio Pauta interview reported on 15 September, he cited Central Bank findings blaming weak growth, technological change and the global context.
According to La Tercera’s account, Boccardo said the bank put the minimum-wage effect at only 0.1 to 0.3 points of unemployment. He proposed targeted subsidies for small firms rather than rolling back the labour agenda.
Praise for the government, and a weak half-year
Hasbún backed Finance Minister Jorge Quiroz, saying he was untangling fifteen years of one-directional reforms. He called the corporate tax cut and capital-markets bill a strong signal, but warned they would not change things overnight.
CSAV, controlled by the Luksic group, owns about 30% of German container line Hapag-Lloyd. It lost US$132.6 million in the first half of 2026, after a US$130 million profit a year earlier.
The government’s own answer so far is spending, announced on 28 September: Chile’s Kast Unveils Emergency Jobs Plan Promising Over 100,000 Jobs.
What Is Not Yet Known
Hasbún did not say how the US$4 billion was calculated or over what period. No official estimate of the combined cost of the three reforms has been published.
Nor is it settled how much of the job losses stem from the reforms rather than the economic cycle. The next INE release, due at the end of October, will show whether formal job losses deepen.
Sources: La Tercera, interview with Óscar Hasbún on Radio Duna, 30 September 2026; INE, national employment survey, June–August 2026; El Dínamo, 30 September 2026; La Tercera, Giorgio Boccardo interview, 15 September 2026.
This article was produced by The Rio Times’ automated newsroom system. How we use AI · Report an error
Read More from The Rio Times