Note published on may 17, 2021, on Reforma, section Negocios / Opinión / Capitanes
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Bitso, the cryptocurrency operation platform, celebrates its 7th anniversary and its creators celebrate that it has already been named a ‘unicorn’ due to its market value and it accumulates more than 2 million clients.
Is the party over?
The increase of wages above inflation had been, up to now, one of the few good things in the behavior of the economy in more than two years.
Both President Andrés Manuel López Obrador and the Secretary of Labor, Luisa María Alcalde, have bragged about the salary recovery.
Over more than two years, the increase of the minimum wage and controlled consumer prices had given some breathing space to families’ incomes.
Well, it seems that this is over, as contractual salaries, those linked to negotiations of large collective agreements, did not do very well.
In April, contractual salaries registered an actual fall of 0.58 percent, the first one seen since October, 2018.
This means that salary increases were well below the annual inflation which, in April alone, reached 6.08 percent, its highest rise so far in the six-year term.
In regard to the following months, everyone is keeping their fingers crossed so that the evident draught does not wreak havoc on agricultural prices and that the price of gasoline does not overflow.
Two for Aguascalientes
The automotive-auto parts chain does not lose its attractiveness and foreign investors are ready to open plants in Mexico and take advantage of the momentum that the Mexico, United States, Canada Agreement (USMCA) will continue to provide.
In recent weeks two interesting investments from Asia, for operation in Aguascalientes, have been concretized.
Xinquan México Automotive Trim, led by Luis Eduardo Gálvez has started the construction of a plant in San Francisco de los Romo, in Aguascalientes, which will involve an investment of 40 million dollars.
It is a manufacturer of auto parts, mainly for export, as its components are intended for high-end cars. It will generate a minimum of 400 direct and indirect job positions.
And, on the other hand, we have the start of the Fanuc México plant, a company of Japanese origin specializing in robots and automated control systems, led in this country by Enrique Estrada.
The Firm has presence in over 100 countries, and it will invest 8 million dollars in its second plant in the state. Even though the number of jobs created was not revealed, they will be highly qualified positions, considering the company’s profile.
These are only two examples of the potential that this entity has to continue attracting investment.
New amparo suits
As if the open legal disputes between the private sector and the energy authorities were not sufficient, now new ones are coming in relation to the changes in the labor sector.
The entry into force of the reform on outsourcing matters is the new source of conflict.
It is known that several amparo suits were filed on Friday by human capital companies that were affected by the reform that prohibits subcontracting, as announced by Ricardo Martínez, one of the partners of the D&M Law Firm.
The argument is that third-party hiring firms, as they had been operating up until now, would have to close operations because all subcontracting activity is prohibited, and it will be allowed as an exception in the case of specialized jobs.
Those affected say that closing the curtains will cause the dismissal of hundreds of workers, a reduction in contributions to the IMSS [Mexican Social Security Institute] and the Infonavit [National Workers’ Housing Fund Institute] as well as a decrease in the payment of Income Tax.
There seems to be confidence that the judges will grant the suspension.
Coppel is armed
The place in which they are already working full speed to avoid the ordeal they lived through in May, 2020 is the Coppel stores, led by Agustín Coppel Luken.
The company’s e-commerce and logistics area does not want to repeat the bitter pill that they had to swallow during last year’s Hot Sale, when they could not cope with the great demand that arose during the online discount campaign, because at that time all physical department stores were closed because of the pandemic.
Those who were at the forefront of the battle in the Coppel stores recall that during the 2020 Hot Sale, online sales grew by a thousand percent, compared to the orders they had filled in that same campaign a year earlier.
This caused their picking and packing processes, which corresponds to everything related to the preparation of orders in the warehouse, to collapse.
Coppel has armed itself and has already grown from 2 shipping offices in the country to 9, in addition to doubling its call center to answer user questions and complaints.
Like 450 other companies that participate in the promotion that starts on May 23, Coppel does not want to be left behind in what could be another sign of recovery in consumption.
