This is one of the highlighted findings of the Latin American Labor Market Panorama report by Deel and Opinaia.
Among the Latin American workforce, Mexicans are the most open to losing work flexibility in order to improve their salaries. With 77% of people willing to sacrifice flexible work for a better salary, it is the highest proportion in the region.
This is one of the findings of the report Panorama of the Labor Market in Latin America by Deel and Opinaia.
According to the study, in Latin America about 68% of workers prioritize a good salary over work flexibility, but this trend is observed to a greater extent in Mexico.
“In Mexico you still see a traditionality in the business environment, it is still common to go to the office, do face-to-face negotiations and that may also be related to giving more weight to compensation than to flexibility because in any case you are going to have to attending the office and a much more structured working relationship,” said Natalia Jiménez, regional director for Latin America at Deel.
In that sense, 40% of Mexicans surveyed lean towards an in-person model, also the highest proportion in the region. The workforce of the Aztec country is the one that perceives a greater connection between presence and team communication and professional growth.
However, this position does not completely eliminate the desire for flexible work arrangements and the benefits they can have on aspects such as work-life balance. In fact, it remains among the main motivators of the workforce.
In fact, work-life balance is the third characteristic of the ideal job for Mexicans, only behind compensation and professional growth.
In that sense, Natalia Jiménez warned that talent attraction and retention policies based only on high salaries will not be the most appropriate in the new work scenarios and with the expectations of the workforce.
“One of the main risks is that the salary will become an increasingly difficult tool to control, at any time an international company arrives that pays two or three times more and if the only loyalty tool is the salary, talent will be very lost. easy, this is an inevitable trend. If we do not give relevance to flexibility, benefits, career plans and well-being, the risk is that people can leave at any time," he explained at a press conference.
WORK IS IMPORTANT, BUT IT IS NOT EVERYTHING
Although the monetary factor remains one of the most important elements, the way work is perceived is changing. A trend in the region is that people are valuing their personal life more than their work life.
Among the most valued aspects of life, 91% of those surveyed in Mexico affirm that the most important thing is family, above work. The country - along with Colombia - ranks as the economy with the highest proportion of people who prioritize their personal life over their professional career.
And in this scenario, labor flexibility is part of the equation. Even with the willingness to sacrifice flexible work for better income, people recognize that the benefits of these work arrangements include:
- Better work-life balance
- Make better use of free time
- More autonomy and possibility of developing innovative ideas
- Less travel time
“Companies must understand that if they do not get on this bus , the mature talent that is within the company will sooner or later retire and there will be no way to retain new talent, competitiveness will be lost, in the end having the best talent is have greater competitiveness for the business,” said Natalia Jiménez.
