2020-2021 Employment Recovery Plan

General Information

Institution:

Ministry of Labor, Employment and Social Security

Country:

Paraguay

Contact person:

Viviana Cano

Position:

General Director

Email:

vivi_canokt@hotmail.com

Phone:

(+59521)7290100

Which of the following topic(s) applies to the program?:

Topics:

Informality and non-registered work

Professional training and skills certification

Employment services

Labor market information systems and observatories

Youth employment

Support to micro, small and medium enterprises and other production units

Employment policies and programs

Individual and collective conflict resolution

Social security programs and policies

Social security agreements

Strategic planning

Coordination with other institutions

Program Description

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Description:

The Plan is based on four focal points:

Supporting employment through decent work protection measures: boosting short and medium term measures by adopting labor and economy-related actions, as well as strengthening and extending economic compensations for formal and informal workers.
Promoting the creation of formal jobs: fostering employment demand through incentives to public and private investment; food production and industrialization; innovation and technology; national industry; foreign investment; MSMEs; and promoting flexible work agreements such as part-time contracts, apprenticeships and dual training.
Increasing employability within the framework of productive re-skilling: increasing work-related skills and capacities and promoting re-skilling through training and certification.
Strengthening institutional capacities with emphasis on innovation and technology.

Objectives:

Safeguarding employment by implementing immediate actions to strengthen smart quarantine and isolation
Recovering employment and productive re-skilling through tripartite agreements
Promoting new jobs through incentive programs for Paraguayan industry and foreign investment
Protecting unemployment by means of a security system.

Year of Start:

2020

Estimated duration:

Undefined

Geographic coverage:

National

Target population:

Workers

Unemployed

Employers

Informal workers

Evaluation and Documentation

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Describe the program's most important achievements and lessons learned:

Previously-achieved objectives:

Online Report and Complaint Platform
Platform to submit suspension of contracts (automatically sent to the Social Security Institute [IPS])
Platform to defer companies’ fines due to COVID-19 (Worker-Employer Registry [REOP])
Occupational Safety and Health Agents Registration Platform
Online Front Desk
Ticket system for loans from Banco Nacional de Fomento (National Development Bank, BNF).

Results:

664 entrepreneurs received advice on business restructuring.
35 new start-ups were formalized.
80 advice services provided to apply for BNF loans.
115 start-ups offered in the Entrepreneur Training Center (CEE)’s catalog.

New jobs promoted:

51.961 people registered in the Job Bank (in 2020)
57.444 people registered in the Job Bank (in 2021)
13.495 vocational tests (in 2020)
7.898 vocational tests (in 2021)
30.197 work connections (in 2020).

Vocational training:

Soft skills
Entrepreneurship
Formalization and credit access
Work protection and types of employment contracts
Internships and dual training programs at companies
Guidance for businesses and unions on labor regulations
Vocational training platforms

Describe the challenges of the program:

Strengthening the occupational safety and health policy with actions from the Ministry of Labor, Employment and Social Security in coordination with businesses and occupational safety and health agents
Flattening the infection curve through strict occupational safety and health measures
Considering the possibility of extending economic compensations for sectors experiencing a delayed recovery (tourism, leisure, restaurants, educational services, etc.)
Speeding up results through adequate funding and joint efforts with other decentralized and central government institutions, with the private sector and citizens in general backing up national production.
Strengthening Tripartite Social Dialogue.

Specify if the program has any internal and external evaluations, if applicable, include key findings:

Through the Labor Market Observatory from the Ministry of Labor, Employment and Social Security and employment indicators as at the second quarter 2021, it was found that the main labor market indicators showed similar trends to those recorded during the same quarters in the pre-pandemic years. The increase in the workforce participation rate, coupled with stagnation in the employment rate, explains the increase in the unemployment rate. In comparison with the same quarter in 2020, in which the participation and employment rates showed a significant decrease caused by the health crisis control measures, the dramatic increase in these indicators is mainly due to a ‘rebound effect’ and not necessarily to a strong recovery of the labor market. The growth in employed population in the second quarter 2021, in comparison with the same period in 2020, was recorded in micro and small enterprises. On the other hand, employment dropped in medium and large family or independent enterprises. When compared to the first quarter this year, as opposed to the small increase recorded in medium enterprises, the other types of companies saw a reduction in employment.

Documents:

Pre and post-pandemic results – 09.29.2021 (in Spanish)

2020-2021 Employment Recovery Plan in Paraguay (in Spanish)