Companies will have to integrate 5% of older adults into their workforces

The Senate approved this Tuesday a reform to the Federal Labor Law (LFT) to close the door to the discrimination of older adults In the labor market. The modifications to the legislation establish a quota with which all companies with more than 20 workers must comply.

The unanimously endorsed changes define as a new obligation for employers to implement actions and programs that promote hiring of people over 60 years of age. In addition, it incorporates in the list of employer prohibitions, refusing to incorporate older adults into its workforce and establishes a quota of 5% of the total workforce in favor of this group when companies have more than 20 employees.

According to the opinion discussed in the plenary session of the Upper House, in Mexico around the 38% of the population over 60 years of age has a job, while 85,000 people are looking for a job opportunity. This led the joint commissions for Labor and Social Welfare and First Legislative Studies to modify the proposal of the Baja California Congress, which served as the basis for the reform, which initially proposed a quota of 20 percent.

“These ruling commissions consider it viable to reduce said percentage to 5% so that these modifications meet their objective of guaranteeing opportunities for older people who need it, and that it be in companies with at least twenty employees. That is to say, one older adult worker is being adjusted for every twenty, which is considered, derived from the statistics that are currently available”, refers to the opinion with which the articles 132 and 133 of the LFT.

In the rostrum, Senator Patricia Mercado (MC), secretary of the Labor and Social Welfare Commission, expressed that the labor market is “limited for the so-called senior citizens”, because no spaces are opened in the workforce to take advantage of the experience and skills of the elderly.

“The precariousness of the labor and pension systems is the first factor that explains the low income of this sector of the population. The accelerated development of technology, digitization and automation has caused a displacement of older adults from jobs and the training deficit makes it more difficult for them to be able to insert themselves into technology-intensive jobs, which are dynamic sectors, but can be employed in personal services, care and other areas that benefit from their experience,” he said.

The project was turned over to the Chamber of Deputies, where it will continue its legislative process. For now, the proposal does not contemplate a transition period for the application of the changes.

According to the report The New Human Age of Manpower, despite the fact that the incorporation of older adults can contribute to increasing the labor force, only 19% of recruiters actively seeks to hire retirees to return to the world of work, which creates another disadvantage for this population.

Employment for the elderly, scarce and precarious

Through the bill, legislators recognize that elderly people experience limitations in accessing employment and social protection “to guarantee an adequate standard of living, encounter obstacles that prevent them either from entering the labor market -in this case from extending their working life-, from obtaining a job of quality or dignified retirement from working life”.

“Currently the labor market for older adults is very limited, since a very high percentage of companies in Mexico do not open spaces within their workforce for older adults and, if they do, labor conditions are presented precarious, that do not respond to the needs of this demographic group”, is argued in the proposal.

According to the National Occupation and Employment Survey (ENOE), of the 5.9 million people over the age of 60 who are employed, 57% do it on their own, that is, they have a job independently.

In this regard, the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC) and the International Labor Organization (ILO) warn that the high percentage of older adults who are self-employed can be linked to The discrimination that prevents them from accessing a salaried job and at the same time, the desire for flexibility in working life.