Wages in Argentina Suffer Record Drop

[oddDistribution]

Just having a salary number and proclaiming it to be true isn't a real-life example. You need to show someone who actually gets that salary for it to be real.


I feel like there might be a disconnect between your imagination and what's actually happening on the ground.

@Sybille do you know any recent university graduates who are earning more than a million pesos per month?

Antipodean is saying that he has direct first hand experience of real examples. I'm not even sure what you're asking for here.

 

[carride]

The numbers I shared with you are real life examples. Paritarias and agreed wages according to role with unions are legally binding for every single worker and company covered by them, whether you’ve just graduated or not. So of course I some recent graduates earning around/ just above a million depending on their role.

With all due respect to the desire for real-life examples, where else in Latin America do recent university graduates tend to earn more than a thousand dollars per month?

I have to agree even without any proof of knowing a young recent graduate earning a decent enough salary. There is banking and finance, mining and petroleum, agriculture, software and tech employers who need these young workers. A look around at a midweek early morning cafe (before I arrive at 9am) or afternoon popular lunch spot you will find them.

That said there is also a growing segment (perhaps 40-50 or more percent?) of population who are moving downward and caught with the high inflation, along with lower or lost wages, which is what I understand from the Original posted topic that started this discussion. A coming recession is not going to help.

 

[antipodean]

I have to agree even without any proof of knowing a young recent graduate earning a decent enough salary. There is banking and finance, mining and petroleum, agriculture, software and tech employers who need these young workers. A look around at a midweek early morning cafe (before I arrive at 9am) or afternoon popular lunch spot you will find them.

That said there is also a growing segment (perhaps 40-50 or more percent?) of population who are moving downward and caught with the high inflation, along with lower or lost wages, which is what I understand from the Original posted topic that started this discussion. A coming recession is not going to help.

En 2023, la pobreza llegó al 41,7% de la población y alcanzó a 19,4 millones de personas en todo el país

La cifra que dio a conocer el Indec implica un aumento respecto al 39,2% que se había registrado un año atrás. La indigencia llegó al 11,9 por ciento. Se espera un impacto mayor en los próximos meses por la inflación y la recesión

www.infobae.com

There is no denying that poverty in Argentina has grown over the past years to shockingly high levels (to become more reminiscent of other countries in the neighborhood like Peru and Brazil which tend to ebb between 30-40%)

However I would argue the root of this and why I would not expect a dramatic turnaround in the short term is not so much wages (although if using 2023 data and the fact that the median private sector wage was $300ish while the basic cost of living was around $350ish due to aforementioned distortions meaning many people were counted to be living in poverty were working poor who should no longer be counted as such) but the lack of any real growth and investment creating and sustaining quality formal jobs for large amounts of people in a very long time, high inflation which just multiplies poverty, combined with an entire generation of people who have poorer levels education, skills and access to vital infraestructura than generations before them giving them a huge disadvantage when it comes to economic integration…

So while there remains so much uncertainty around the playing field for the next few years it is impossible to expect investment or real growth to suddenly appear and we will continue to have a very unequal society, albeit with private sector wages (and costs of living) higher than those of neighboring countries and higher than those of recent Argentine history (which will obviously continue to suck for the lowest wage earners and those groups like informal workers, unemployed and pensioners as it does like anywhere else).

 

[mikic007]

Is he a recent university graduate?

Sorry, no. High position in agricultural business. His salary was higher than 3k usd for decades, now of course lower. Million however isn't really something. I'm operating with much more, living in provincia, and find it very expensive. Prices are so much out of reality, that seems money has no value, while quality is lacking comparing developed countries. Of course some things are still crazy cheap, but are outshone by rampant prices of many stuff.

We will see how it will turn out, but if milei doesn't go through with other stuff, like opening import/export, it'll be just worse.

 

[Goata]

As someone paying a great deal of wages, I’d call the title utter bullshit and click bait.

Average wage (since February…) in my sector now over US$1000 with even more paritarias planned, up from hovering around US$300 in November/ December.

I have lived in Argentina for 14 years and EVERYONE I know earns and has less money than they did 1-3-5 or ten years ago. My wife used to make enough money in 1 month to buy a plane ticket to NYC. Now it takes her 7 or 8 months to save for one.

 

[AdrianB]

I have lived in Argentina for 14 years and EVERYONE I know earns and has less money than they did 1-3-5 or ten years ago. My wife used to make enough money in 1 month to buy a plane ticket to NYC. Now it takes her 7 or 8 months to save for one.

Can you give some numbers regarding salary and ticket prices? I am curious because this statement seems weird in regards to salaries being much higher in dollar terms now compared to a year ago.

I agree everything is also way more expensive but it plane tickets specifically have mostly always been in dollars?

 

[Goata]

Wages are not higher in dollar terms than they were last year, 3-5-10 years ago because wages are in a losing race against the rocketing peso. If one was making 20,000 pesos a month in 2017 when the dollar blue was 18 Pesos to a dollar they would be earning $1,100 dollars a month, today 20,000 P. is worth $20. One would need to earn 1,100,000 P. a month to equal $1,100 USD. The link below shows the Dollar Blue rate since it's inception in 2002. (The price of a plane ticket from Mendoza to NYC is around $1,100)

 

[Goata]

Can you give some numbers regarding salary and ticket prices? I am curious because this statement seems weird in regards to salaries being much higher in dollar terms now compared to a year ago.

I agree everything is also way more expensive but it plane tickets specifically have mostly always been in dollars?

Can you give some numbers regarding salary and ticket prices? I am curious because this statement seems weird in regards to salaries being much higher in dollar terms now compared to a year ago.

I agree everything is also way more expensive but it plane tickets specifically have mostly always been in dollars?

 

[antipodean]

It’s worth pointing out that flight tickets originating in Argentina are more than double what they were in 2017/18 in dollar terms. This is due to (a) taxes (b) reduced capacity and (c) FX distortions meaning they are effectively priced in dollars using the blue before being pesified back at the official (d) fuel prices and high costs of doing business.
In those days an economy ticket to europe or the US at fairly short notice (2-3 weeks out) would cost me less than EUR600 (now around EUR1200-EUR1800ish) while business would average at around EUR2200 (now EUR5000-10000ish) - it was pretty much similar as it would now cost today if originating in Brazil and flying the same airline and route (although in recent weeks/ months have seen some fares starting to come down including business class to Europe for around EUR3500ish thanks to more FX stability…)

Using flight tickets originating in Argentina as a measure for people who are accustomed to travel are for sure going to make people feel poorer - especially when there are now less options to finance them (eg no cuotas on international flights allowed)

 

[AdrianB]

Yes but I said a year ago, not 7 years ago. As far as I know salaries increased more than the blue rate since October.