The “My First Employment” program, offered by the Ministry of Labour (Mintrab) since 2021, was proposed in order to support young people seeking to enter the labour market with first experience. For four months, the programme is responsible for covering 51 per cent of the beneficiaries ' pay while the company is responsible for the other 49 per cent, in addition to ensuring that every young person has access to the Guatemalan Social Security Institute (IGSS) and benefits such as aguinaldo, vacation and compensation.
This 2024, this program had a budget of Q6.3 million, for 678 young people. However, every year the labour force seeks to integrate 240,000 Guatemalans. According to Luis Linares, coordinator of the area of Labor and Municipal Studies of the Association of Research and Social Studies (Asies), due to the low budget given to this program and the short time given to apprentices, it does not generate the necessary impact.
Many companies are currently looking for staff who are young but who at the same time have experience. However, according to Carolina Mora, senior manager for Deloitte Latin America in the Human Capital, most young people leaving college or school have not yet had contact with the workplace. However, a common policy, Mora explains, is to offer internships and professional internships.
Marilia Pérez, Director General of Employment at the Mintrab, argues that the overall growth of the program depends on the budget allocated. We depend on the budget approved by the authorities. If we are allowed a larger budget, we have more opportunities for the program, emphasizes Pérez, who added that by 2025 the same amount allocated will continue to be used unless the entities of the Ministry require an extension.
What’s to change?
Linares says the program has a limited limitation of low coverage, supporting only 678 young people. It’s insufficient, it’s like a spoonful of sugar in a pool, Linares says. However, it is not enough just to expand the number of beneficiaries, it is also necessary to increase the learning time of young people, reiterates the social studies coordinator of Assisi.
For Linares, the Mintrab could be set as a goal to reach 20,000 young people in two or three years and that the duration of the scholarship is six months. However, this would have to come with an increase in resources, both to include more scholarships, and the increase in time within the program.
Pérez agrees with Linares, as he assures that the number of scholarships and the budget could be gradually increased. However, he stresses that we need to be realistic, since talking about hundreds of thousands of beneficiaries should have a much wider budget.
Rafael Rodriguez, former Minister of Labour and Social Security of the Mintrab, points out that since the success of this small-scale program, the amount of budget could be doubled or tripled in the short term.
Likewise, María José Nichols, president of Cacif Joven, argues that the insertion of young people would also be feasible to analyze the age range necessary to be able to participate. The programme is currently offered to young people between the ages of 18 and 24. However, he points out that first-class practices could even reach high school students or people who are not in college.
A regulatory framework
Nichols points to the need for a broader legal framework to regulate the scholarship My First Job. According to the president of the Young Cacif, the challenge has been to find mechanisms that should be clearer, specifying the classification among apprentices and practitioners.
Based on a regulatory framework, Nichols points out that more interested companies could be drawn and more scholarships could be drawn to include more scholarships within this program.
However, according to Rodriguez, when they were in the process of developing the program, three legal documents were created to regulate the program: the transfer that is made to the beneficiary, the agreement signed with the company for co-responsibilities and the contract between the worker and the company, which specified that it was a learning contract.
No impact
Pérez points out that approximately 40% of the scholarships have the opportunity to stay permanently in the company. However, one of the biggest problems in this programme is the lack of substantial impact on young people receiving support.
Rodriguez reports that in 2021, 513 young people were awarded the scholarship; 703 in 2022 and 647 in 2023. This marks a decrease since 2022, when, according to Rodriguez, 200 people stayed working from the program.
Linares says the duration of this scholarship is insufficient to really learn a trade. To this end, Linares compared the Intecap, which has dual training programs with requirements of 500 hours of work (three months) plus trainings of at least one year.
In addition to this, according to Nichols, there is still a gap between supply and demand, which prevents the scholarship from achieving the desired impact. Nichols points out that mapping is needed to analyze demand and from this teach applicants to reduce this gap.
Linares also states that accompaniment to apprentices is indispensable. Learning within a company will not result if there is no mentoring on the part of the entity. He says that companies do not always have a qualified worker who is also able to teach and that the program should have tutorials to ensure the good performance of the apprentice and that it really has an impact.
Nichols points out that the operation of this programme must be addressed from three points: the public sector, to govern and provide tools; the academy, for the training of young people in the areas in demand and companies, to indicate that this is what is sought in a worker.
More companies, more scholarships
Promotion is key, Perez deepens. It is important to note that we depend on the profile of the business fabric that is located in the regions,” says Pérez, who adds that depending on the number of companies in each department, this will be the opportunity for employment in each sector, who also mentions that there are currently approximately 110 companies willing to receive the scholarships.
However, the coverage of this program has been mostly in the capital, says Linares. This leaves aside the interior of the country, where the opportunities are more limited, Mora says.
On top of this, Nichols points out that the squares are not normally filled. For Pérez it is necessary to involve education as a key factor, and that an analysis must be carried out to the curriculum from Mineduc.
The Guatemalan is already a trader in itself, says Nichols, who points out that young people seek to undertake for two main reasons: desire or need. From this scholarship, Nichols argues that the entrepreneur manages to have greater tools that allow him to formalize his business and thus become an entrepreneur, which would lead to the creation of more jobs.
This article was translated after first appearing in Prensa Libre