President Javier Milei’s administration has experienced a detrimental shift in the formal employment sector: from November 2023, the month preceding his inauguration, to May 2025, the economy has seen a decline of over 220,000 jobs and the closure of more than 15,000 businesses. A recent report by the Centro de Economía Política Argentina (CEPA) presents figures derived from the SIPA (Sistema Integrado Previsional Argentino) pension fund system.
The decline represents a 2.27-percent contraction in the workforce of registered wage earners within production units, decreasing from 9,857,173 to 9,633,636 employees over a span of just 18 months. Job losses were primarily observed in critical sectors of the economy. In the realm of public administration, defence, and social security, we observed a significant contraction, resulting in over 98,600 job losses. This was closely followed by the construction sector, which experienced a decline of 80,873 positions. Transport and storage experienced a decline, totaling 54,935, while manufacturing saw a reduction of 39,016. The reduction in formal employment, encompassing both private and public sectors, did not result in a proportionate rise in the unemployment rate. This phenomenon can be attributed to a notable increase in self-employment, particularly among monotributo taxpayers.
Experts indicated that this situation illustrates a “precarisation” of employment overall in Argentina. In May 2025, the Politikon Chaco consultancy firm observed a marginal enhancement in the labor market, with registered employment increasing by 0.1 percent relative to April, translating to approximately 6,000 additional jobs. Nonetheless, in juxtaposition with the onset of Milei’s administration, the overall balance continues to reflect a negative trend: approximately 100,000 jobs have been eliminated in seasonally adjusted terms. “The monthly increase in May was underpinned by employment expansion in sectors including transport services, storage and communications (0.6 percent), electricity, gas and water (0.4 percent), and trade (0.3 percent).” Other sectors such as hotels and restaurants (0.2 percent), real estate, corporate and rental services (0.2 percent), and health social services (0.1 percent) also experienced rises,” a report noted.
An analysis of employment levels in May 2025 relative to November 2023 indicates that growth was observed in only three sectors: fishing at 10 percent, agriculture and cattle at 3.3 percent, and trade at 2.2 percent. In contrast, the most significant reductions were observed in mining and quarrying, which experienced a decline of 4.4 percent, and in construction, which saw a decrease of 13.6 percent. In examining the dynamics of the labor market, analysts at consultancy LCG posited that “the adjustment continues to come via prices (wages) rather than quantities (unemployment).” It was emphasized that “even though unemployment is not rising, low-quality jobs are gaining ground.” “Without taking into account monotributo social taxpayers, in the last year and a half the loss of private and public payroll employees was proportional to the increase of sole traders and monotributo taxpayers,” they illustrated. The increase in self-employment has, to some extent, mitigated the loss of over 220,000 formal jobs that disappeared.
In the foreseeable future, the consultancy projected a “weak and uneven growth.” They cautioned that real wage increases are unlikely to be sustainable, given the recent rise in the official exchange rate and its consequent effect on prices, which will likely exceed the one-percent limit established by the government for wage-bargaining discussions. 15,000 companies have exited the market. From November 2023 to May 2025, there was a decline in the number of employers with registered workers, decreasing from 512,357 to 496,793. This represents a reduction of 15,564 firms over a period of 18 months. According to the CEPA report, “The transport and storage sector was the hardest hit, losing 4,094 employers” during that period. “Other industries also experienced notable declines: real-estate services decreased by 2,617, wholesale and retail trade, along with the repair of motor vehicles and motorcycles, saw a reduction of 2,387 employers, professional, scientific and technical services declined by 1,783, and construction faced a loss of 1,669 employers during the same timeframe.”
In examining corporate downsizing, it is evident that the firms most significantly impacted were those employing up to 500 workers, accounting for 99.69 percent of the total affected. In contrast, employers with a workforce exceeding 500 individuals represented merely 0.31 percent (49 instances). It is noteworthy that larger firms experienced the most significant downsizing, with three out of four jobs lost (165,625 cases) occurring at companies employing over 500 individuals. Small and medium-sized enterprises accounted for the majority of the adjustment, experiencing a reduction of 57,912 jobs, which represents 26 percent of the overall loss documented between November 2023 and May 2025.