Introduction
As 2026 begins, a new economic cycle unfolds in Mexico where traditional employment is no longer synonymous with job security, and formal employment no longer guarantees stability. The once-desired fixed position, constant salary, and signed contract are now eroding, giving way to a new foundation of the Mexican economy: self-employment, independent work, and personal project creation.
The Demise of an Outdated Model
Mexico enters 2026 with clear signals: the traditional employment structure is fracturing. Real average wages have barely grown in a decade, and the gap between living costs and labor income continues to widen. Additionally, the job market is saturated with talent, where thousands of professionals, particularly those over 40, face significant barriers to re-employment.
Many of these experienced professionals—engineers, accountants, technical specialists—did not leave formal employment by choice but due to displacement. The result is that more than half of Mexico’s workforce now operates under informal conditions. Behind these figures are stories of resilience, reinvention, and adaptation.
When the System Crumbles Too
This transition is not theoretical or gradual; it’s happening before our eyes. According to figures published this week by Reforma, Mexico ended 2025 with the largest loss of employers in over two decades. Thousands of micro and small businesses closed due to rising costs, uncertainty, and credit constraints.
Behind this data lies more than a business crisis; it’s a structural change. The model supporting formal employment is fragmenting, explaining why independent economy has emerged as the new driving force of the country. When companies weaken, talent seeks alternative paths.
These paths are increasingly autonomy in work, entrepreneurship, and the provision of independent professional services.
The New Face of Mexican Work
What’s emerging is a new class of workers: professionals who no longer wait to be hired but build their own market space. Individuals who, faced with a lack of opportunities, decided to turn their experience into a valuable proposition.
They no longer seek positions; they seek purpose. They no longer compete for salary but for relevance. Most importantly, they’re learning that income can depend less on an employer and more on their ability to generate solutions, products, or knowledge.
This phenomenon is not marginal: the number of independent workers has grown three times faster than formal employment in the last two years. This isn’t coincidental; it’s adaptation.
From Paperwork to Execution
For a long time, we believed accumulating diplomas was the key to staying relevant: another course, another diploma, another workshop. However, the reality of 2026 is harsher and clearer: the economy no longer rewards certifications but execution capabilities.
The current market doesn’t pay for titles; it pays for results. Knowing how to apply what you know—selling, communicating, solving problems, executing—has become the new currency of value. This marks a turning point: learning without action no longer protects anyone.
The professional reinventing themselves today is not the one who studies the most but the one who puts their knowledge to work in new ways.
The Power of Risk
There’s no transformation without risk, but today, the meaning of risk has changed. It’s not jumping without a safety net anymore; it’s moving with purpose.
The risk isn’t in moving but in staying where you no longer grow. It’s not about resignation but about remaining where your mind shuts off, and experience no longer makes sense.
This is The Power of Risk: using uncertainty as a catalyst, not a brake. Because in such a rapidly changing economy, inaction is the new vulnerability.
For those facing the challenge of reinventing themselves today—professionals over 40 with solid careers but no space in the formal system—risk is also a form of freedom. The power isn’t in the paycheck but in the mindset.
The Challenge for the State
This displacement impacts not only individuals but also weakens Mexico’s social security system foundation. Each professional transitioning from formal to independent employment outside security schemes represents fewer incomes for the system, fewer contributions, and consequently, fewer resources to sustainably implement public policies.
If more than 50% of the workforce no longer contributes, the current protection social model becomes unsustainable. Mexico needs to acknowledge that independent economy is not an exception or a trend; it’s a reality requiring new metrics, incentives, and flexible regulation that supports rather than penalizes labor reinvention.
Dare to Change: Your Mindset is the New Job
Mexico 2026 won’t be remembered as the year of crises but the year of model change. Employment is no longer the center of economic life; generating value with autonomy is.
The worker of the future—who is already the present—won’t seek stability but purpose. And those who understand that risk isn’t moving but standing still will find in this new cycle an opportunity for growth, not a threat.
The new job isn’t outside; it’s in your mindset. And the future, more than ever, belongs to those who dare to build it.
