Lack of jobs and low wages affect western Panama

Western Panama It has an indisputable percentage of the population available for work, while at the same time there is a concentrated high unemployment rate with a strong impact on the youth population.

This demand for employment opportunities and the search for a better income is reflected in the thousands of people who travel to the capital every day, at the cost of hours of endless traffic jams.

Emphasized displacement from other provinces also contributes to the accelerated concentration of the economically active population, which competes for few jobs.

This reality is stated in the study, Panama Oeste: Industrial Development and the Labor Market, published in the journal D’ Economía of the University of Panama, for him economic researcher, Reyes Valverdewho pointed out the urgent need for the province to develop a horizontal industrial cluster that connects the market, technologies and workforce in this region.

For Valverde, this would enable the absorption of the various experts living in the province. In his opinion, the northern area of ​​La Chorrera and the southern area of ​​Arraiján are potential geographical areas for the development of these clusters.

Valverde also shares the need to develop a special zone called the Panama Pacific Agency, located 10 minutes from container ports, 20 minutes from Panama City, 40 minutes from Tocumen International Airport and one hour from the Colón Free Zone. .

The April 2022 Multipurpose Survey ranked Panama Oeste as the province with the highest percentage of unemployed (12.9%), above Panama (12.5%) and Colón (12.0%). Panamá Oeste is also ranked as the province with the highest percentage of open unemployment at 11.3%, above Colón at 10.3% and Panama at 10.2%.

Generally speaking, in the year before the pandemic, the province of Panama West created around 131,494 full-time jobs, given that 24.7% of its labor market is concentrated in the agriculture, animal husbandry, forestry and fishing sectors; still proving that its economy obeys the traditional rural approach. However, the ability to create household jobs for private households, which make up a little more than a fifth of the workforce, is also evident.

About 45% of the population in western Panama is dedicated to rural or very basic activities due to the lack of technological and industrial job offers and diversification in terms of services that allow them to enter a much more lucrative market. and it implies better wage conditions, in particular the economist.

The minimum income that a household must have in order to meet the needs of security and protection is on average 1,810 dollars, that is, two people earn about 900 dollars, and there are sectors in the country that pay even 420 dollars, says Valverde.

For a family that earns $1,810, inflation reaches 1.9% to 2%, however, for a family that earns an average of $420 to $600, inflation can hit it by 10.5%, according to the expert.

Valverde also does not justify the difference in wages in western Panama and the capital of the country, because the prices of products and services between both regions are almost zero.

There is little that the authorities of the five districts do, Chame, San Carlos, La Chorrera, Capira, Arraiján, to diversify labor market processes, depriving the population of better opportunities, he points out.

With this in mind, Valverde calls on the authorities to understand the economic dynamics in the region, implement strategies related to industrial development that allow obtaining inputs from the primary sector in order to strengthen that sector and thus guarantee the maintenance of employment in that sector and improve wages, through job creation in industry, as well as diversification of the service sector.

Finally, to guarantee more and better educational centers, better hospitals and greater decentralization of public entities, which will also generate employment in different professional fields with better salaries.