Latin America needs to adapt its educational systems more precisely to the real demands of the business fabric if it wants to strengthen social cohesion and open new avenues for economic development in the region. This is one of the main conclusions of the report "Employment as a Driver of Social Inclusion in Ibero-American Countries," presented at an event organized by the CEOE Foundation.
During the presentation, Ignacio Niño, 'senior advisor' at the professional services firm EY, emphasized the relevance of connecting classrooms with the labor market. "Training works, but it works, above all, when it is connected with companies, their needs, and real opportunities," he stated this Tuesday while outlining the keys of the study promoted by the business entity.
Niño warned that, in practice, investment in labor policies in Latin America is "scarce," as it barely reaches 0.34% of GDP. In his view, although there are specific programs and measures, "intensity is lacking" for them to have a transformative impact on employment and inclusion.
The expert recalled that the poverty rate in Latin America stands at 27.3% and that extreme poverty reaches 10.6%, which means that 172 million people live in poverty and 66 million in extreme poverty. These figures, he pointed out, highlight the enormous inclusion challenge facing the region.
In this context, he stressed that career guidance and support for unemployed or vulnerable individuals "are not auxiliary services," but the "central axes" on which training and employability programs must be structured if we want to lift tens of millions of Latin Americans out of precariousness.
"Insertion is the starting point, labor inclusion is the path, and social inclusion is the goal," Niño summarized at the end of his speech, insisting that access to quality employment must be the common thread of all active policies.
Earlier, the president of the CEOE Foundation and former Minister of Employment and Social Security under the government of Mariano Rajoy, Fátima Báñez, had claimed the role of the third sector in generating wealth and improving opportunities for the most vulnerable groups.
"Social inclusion and business development are reinforced when we manage to connect the talent of people and the opportunities that the economy itself gives us. [...] Foundations help to turn an existing opportunity into an accessible opportunity," he exemplified, highlighting the contribution of these entities.
From the foundation linked to the Spanish Confederation of Business Organizations (CEOE), they maintain that a more inclusive labor market strengthens trust, favors investment, and creates a conducive environment to "move forward together as a society."
In the same vein, Báñez has emphasized the need to continuously update the skills of workers in the face of technological and productive changes. "Technologies change, the skills that companies need change, professions change, and also, the expectations of people change, but something that always remains is the aspiration of any citizen to a dignified life, to quality employment," he elaborated.
The president of the Confederation of Business Associations of the Balearic Islands (CAEB) and vice president of the Spanish Confederation of Small and Medium Enterprises (Cepyme), Carmen Planas, has agreed that separating social inclusion from the company, training, and employability "leaves out an essential part of education."
"We know that the great economic, social, and environmental challenges we face cannot be addressed from a single organization. We need companies, we need foundations, administrations, social organizations, and institutions all working together [...] with public-private collaboration," Planas has stated, calling for stable alliances between public and private actors.
In the same presentation, the head of the Economy and Business Area of the Ibero-American General Secretariat (SEGIB), Jaume Gaytán, has stressed that the economic future of the region does not depend only on having more competitive companies, but also "more committed to the generation of shared value."