Overview of the Situation
According to data reported by the Mexican Social Security Institute (IMSS) on a recent Monday, the creation of formal job positions in Mexico has seen a significant decline. In August 2025 alone, net new hires fell by 62.5% to 21,750 positions, and over the first eight months of the year, formal job creation decreased by 40.7% to 216,538 positions. This marks the weakest performance for an equivalent period since 2009, excluding the unusual year of 2020.
Impact of Digital Platform Workers’ Integration
Despite the inclusion of digital platform workers into social security, the slowdown in formal job creation persists. Guillermina Rodríguez, Deputy Director of Economic Studies at Banamex, stated that “if the digital platforms reform hadn’t been implemented, we would already be seeing negative employment rates since last month.”
In contrast to July, when 1.3 million jobs were reportedly created through the formalization of workers on digital platforms like DiDi, Uber, or Rappi, the IMSS reported that in August only 133,178 digital platform worker positions met the requirement of generating a net monthly income equal to or exceeding the minimum wage, as established by the Secretariat of Labor and Social Prevision (STPS).
Decline in Multiple Sectors
Moreover, 20 federal entities reported a net destruction of formal employment in August, compared to 12 at the beginning of the year. Tabasco led with an 8.7% drop, followed by Campeche (-4.0%) and Guerrero (-2.8%). The economist from Banamex explained that “the extraordinary incorporation of workers was not enough to reduce the number of entities with annual job decline, illustrating the weakness in real job creation.”
Throughout July, 19 entities reported decreases; in June, 17 did so; and in January 2025, 12 reported declines. Additionally, considering the performance of various economic sectors, construction retreated 7.8% in August, reflecting the weakness in public and private investment.
- Agrobusiness: -1.3%
- Manufacturing: -1.9%
- Extraction sector: -5.4%
Positive Performance in Communications and Transportation Sector
However, the Communications and Transportation sector continues to report positive numbers at 8.8%. This is attributed to the pilot program for digital platform workers, which no longer shows spectacular growth but still maintains positive figures.
Expert Opinions and Recommendations
The uncertainty surrounding the economy is affecting job creation, according to Mónica Flores, President of ManpowerGroup LATAM. She mentioned that “to generate jobs, we need investment, and to attract investment, we must provide legal certainty and stability signals.”
As per the IMSS report, there are currently 22,454,917 affiliated individuals, with 87% holding permanent contracts and 13.0% having temporary ones.
