MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Argentina not likely to extend special layoff measures, Labor Minister says

“They were two extraordinary measures for an extraordinary situation,” Moroni said.

Argentine Labor Minister Claudio Moroni Thursday said it was “highly likely” that the double severance money and the ban on dismissals decreed as a part of the emergency measures to cope with the COVID-19 pandemic will not be extended after December 31, since the economic situation was getting back to normal.

“As the situation is normalizing, because Argentina is growing, it is highly probable that these measures will end at the end of the year and will not be extended,” Moroni said.

“They were two extraordinary measures for an extraordinary situation,” he added.

The minister was also confident that by the time “we can measure the situation of next December, which we will publish in February, we will at least have recovered all the jobs lost during the pandemic.”

Some businesses, “such as manufacturing and construction, are above the number jobs they had before the pandemic,” Moroni went on.

Moroni's words came during a speech at a technical school in the city of Campana.

Double severance money was first decreed for 180 days in December of 2019, but it was later extended to December 31, 2020. However, the latest extension introduced a cap of AR $ 500,000 (US $ 2,500 at the unofficial exchange rate) for the surcharge.

The ban on dismissals without a justified cause began to apply at the beginning of the quarantine and is still in force. Last month, President Alberto Fernández had also admitted that both measures would not be extended again.

“The measures of exception that we have taken must be construed this way. They have been arranged at a moment of exception and they will not be sustained over time,” the head of state had said.

Leading businessman Paolo Rocca, owner of Techint, and Argentine Industrial Union (UIA) Chairman Daniel Funes de Rioja were present when Moroni made the announcements.

Argentina is currently growing at a 9% rate, according to Moroni, who admitted a particular sector's situation regarding the recovery from the pandemic couild be evaluated before fully lifting the emergency measures. Moroni also highlighted the some 630,000 workers suspended at the beginning of the pandemic “have already been reinstated,” into their jobs.

Moroni also estimated it was now time to discuss other issues, such as safety protocols, gender matters, in-company training and legal agreements for job positions which no longer exist due to technological advancements