Latin Labor Index: Best & Worst

Labor is the key challenge facing small and medium-sized companies in Latin America, according to a new survey among 810 executives in the region. The survey, Latin America Business Monitor, was done by TNS Gallup Argentina on behalf of US-based logistics giant UPS.

So, what countries in Latin America have the best labor environment for local and foreign companies?

The Latin Labor Index from Latin Business Chronicle looks at 18 factors that determine overall labor conditions in 18 countries in Latin America.

The key factors include:

• Fixed term contract flexibility
• Minimum wage
• Payments and restrictions for night and holiday work
• Paid annual leave
• Regulations and payments for redundancy
• Flexibility of wage determination 
• Cooperation in labor-employer relations
• Brain drain

We also included education (mean and expected years of schooling) and a health factor such as life expectancy at birth.

ECONOMIC IMPACT

An attractive labor environment is one key factor for multinationals evaluating setting up operations or expanding existing ones. However, it also impacts ...



Keywords: Bolivia, Brazil, Costa Rica, Ecuador, Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico, Panama, Paraguay, Uruguay, Venezuela

THE INDEX

Latin Labor Index 2010

The Data Behind the Index