OPINION; The minimum wage dilemma

The discussion of the minimum wage is a ritual of disagreement that is repeated every two years. Those who sit at the table should be accompanied by the most diverse representations of micro and small businesses, unemployed, self-employed and even a spokesperson for the growing sector of young people who neither work nor study.

The minimum wage is less and less relevant in a labor market with an informal labor sector as large as the Panamanian. The fundamentals of capitalist economies are very simple: there has to be a demand that justifies an offer. The economic growth figures for the year ending are only 3.5% of GDP. Hundreds of companies have fired  employees and the change of government has resulted in the dismissal of at least 12 thousand public servants.

Those were salaries that paid bills and produced other jobs. To these realities is added the increasing automation of work, which makes the real dilemma of the minimum wage is not to maintain or increase it, but to preserve existing jobs and generate new jobs. LA PRENSA, Dec. 14