The Shift from Traditional Employment to Independent Work
For much of the 20th century, Mexico built its progress on a central idea: formal employment was the safest path to stability. Having a job with a contract, benefits, and a fixed salary was synonymous with belonging to the national development project. However, this equation has changed.
As we enter 2026, a cycle is closing. The Mexican economy is moving away from its reliance on traditional employment and beginning to recognize, though not always explicitly, the rise of a new productive force: the independent worker class.
From Employment as Identity to Work as Choice
Over the past decade, work has transitioned from being defined by its form to being defined by its meaning. Stability is no longer measured in years spent within a single company but in the ability to sustain income, projects, and freedom simultaneously.
The pandemic accelerated this shift, but its roots are deeper: the rising cost of living, stagnant wages that didn’t keep pace with productivity, and technological transformation enabling work from anywhere.
Today, formal employment is no longer synonymous with security, and independent work is no longer seen as risky. The cycle has inverted.
The Quiet Expansion of Independent Labor
According to the latest data from INEGI, over 14.5 million Mexicans are in a condition of independent work, representing around 27% of the employed population. If we include those participating in mixed schemes—formal employment alongside freelance or independent activities—the proportion exceeds 40%.
Far from being a phenomenon of mere subsistence, in recent years, the number of professionals, technicians, and creatives operating under this scheme has grown. Faced with stagnant salaries, they’ve opted for autonomy.
From Employment to a Self-Sustaining Productive Ecosystem
The independent economy isn’t limited to self-employment; it’s creating a more agile and decentralized productive ecosystem. Small digital agencies, solo consultancies, professional services startups, consulting firms, and microenterprises form a network contributing innovation and resilience to the economy.
According to BID projections, Latin America could increase its GDP by up to 1.5 percentage points if it fully integrated independent workers into formal, productive schemes. Mexico, with its growing pool of autonomous talent, is well-positioned to do so.
The Value of Time and Autonomy as Growth Drivers
In previous columns, we’ve discussed time as an economic asset. For independent workers, this logic reaches its peak expression. Time stops being a passive variable—hours worked—and becomes the most valuable input in modern productivity.
Each hour well managed by an independent professional can translate directly into value: creation, consulting, applied knowledge, or innovation. This relationship between time and autonomy generates a type of growth that doesn’t depend on hierarchical structures but on each person’s ability to use their talent flexibly.
What was once seen as vulnerability has become a competitive advantage for the nation. An economy distributing its production among millions of small actors is more resilient than one concentrated in a few large employers. This will be crucial in a global context of uncertainty and automation.
The Silent Displacement and Its Invisible Costs
However, not all this transition to independence has been voluntary. Among professionals over 40, a significant portion has reached self-employment due to a lack of job opportunities rather than strategic choice. Companies, in their pursuit of leaner structures, have displaced experienced profiles into temporary contract or service provision schemes.
Many of them pay taxes and generate value, but by doing so outside the formal security social system, they stop contributing to health, pension, and housing funds. According to IMSS estimates, the number of registered independent workers with regular contributions has remained virtually stagnant in the last five years, while the universe of professionals operating without coverage continues to grow each quarter.
The impact is not minor: fewer formal workers mean less income for the security social system, and consequently, less capacity for the state to uphold its future commitments. This phenomenon—invisible to many indicators—should trigger an alert for the government: the cost of professional informality is accumulating slowly in public finances.
Adding to this, there’s another challenge: a consumer confidence decline that has lasted several months, directly affecting those relying on private spending to sustain their services. The independent professional faces a complex paradox: greater freedom but less certainty.
2026: The Year of Maturity
Each decade leaves its mark on the work structure. The 1990s were the era of economic opening; the 2000s, formal employment and institutional stability; the 2010s, digital transformation. 2026 could mark the beginning of a new stage: independent economy as the growth axis for national development.
Closing a cycle doesn’t mean rupture but integration. Formal and independent economies can coexist, complement, and strengthen each other. The former provides structure and regulation; the latter brings agility and innovation. The convergence between them can redefine Mexico’s competitiveness against the world.
The Vision: Mexico and Its New Productive Class
The country is filled with stories anticipating this future: professionals leaving their jobs to advise companies; women turning their skills into personal brands; young people monetizing knowledge, creativity, and technology from home or a café.
They are the ones sustaining a significant portion of domestic consumption, driving service digitalization, and diversifying the local economy. They are, silently, the new Mexican working class.
As the Institute for Mexico’s Competitiveness (IMCO) warns, “the workers’ ability to generate income outside traditional employment will be a determining factor of economic growth in the coming decade.” The Centro de Estudios Espinosa Yglesias (CEEY) adds: “Well-managed labor autonomy can become a motor of social mobility and reduction of inequality.”
2026 won’t just be a change of calendar. It will be the year Mexico begins to measure its prosperity not by how many jobs it creates but by how much economic and productive freedom it can generate.
Because independence is no longer the margin of the economy. It’s increasingly its heart.
*The author is a Transformative Integration mentor.
