Inclusión laboral de trabajadores migrantes y reactivación económica en tiempos de COVID-19

Why should we talk about migration and economic reactivation? After several months living with a pandemic and a health emergency, it is essential to invigorate the labour market and generate actions towards economic reactivation and recovery. At the IOM, we believe that sustainable, long-lasting and socially committed initiatives are needed to address the priorities and different necessities that have arisen in the communities, adding social value through the businesses’ capabilities.

For this reason, the IOM Mission in Mexico, through the Regional Program on Migration Mesoamerica and the Caribbean, promotes the regular labour inclusion of migrants. Remember that the migration corridor of Central America and Mexico is one of the most important in the world. Both migrants from the neighborhood countries and people from other latitudes of the American continent pass through it. 

In recent times, extra-regional flows from other parts of the world also pass through that area. These people actively participate in the economic environments of the region, creating a situation in which migration becomes an important factor of transformation. Therefore, the migratory phenomenon is a relevant factor for development.

However, despite the benefits mentioned, the process of labour insertion of migrants implies some challenges. Among them, I would highlight: the lack of information for employers and migrants. In this regard, IOM has published two manuals that aim to support the business sector and promote regular labour migration.

The first publication is the Basic Manual for hiring migrants in Mexico, and it has been created in collaboration with Without Borders IAP, a leading organization on the issue of migrant’s human rights. The Basic Manual provides information on the conditions of stay that allow to work and the necessary documentation that both an employer and a worker require to be able to work in Mexico, and how to process it.

The second input is the Informative Manual: challenges and opportunities in hiring migrants in Mexico, which compiles the good practices and challenges encountered by the business sector on the issue of labour inclusion of migrants. It brings together experiences and testimonies that IOM collected in various activities with representatives of the private sector over the course of almost two years of activities.

Thanks to both manuals and to the Employers of the World, Future Leaders campaign, carried out in collaboration with the Ministry of Labour and Social Welfare between August and September 2020, IOM contributes to informing the Mexican private sector of the benefits of migrants’ labour inclusion, and the conditions for their regular hiring in Mexico. These materials also make it possible to explain to host communities that migrant workers are talented, they contribute to economic development to ensure productivity and wealth in the country, and thus contribute to eliminating prejudices and stigmas on the migratory phenomenon.