Mexico DF and Calgary AB – worlds apart

Here’s a tale of two cities.  Mexico City and Calgary have many things in common, and many differences (perhaps the most obvious being that Mexico City is like 30 times bigger!).  But there’s one difference that has been fascinating me over the past few weeks – employment.

Calgary is entering a crisis – simply too many jobs and not enough employees.  The other day we got a full colour flyer in the mail, inviting us to come over for some free food to discuss employment opportunities.

No people People

 The workplace?  Burger King!

Another restaurant is attracting employees by offering a $500 bonus after 3 months and an all-inclusive trip to Mexico after 1 year!  (This is a new Mexican restaurant, by the way – we’re looking forward to it.  There are more and more opening up in the city).

It’s been this way in Calgary for years to some extent.  I boasted to someone that they could come to Calgary one day and be working the next morning, and sure enough they were (with decent pay too).  But things are getting worse as the boom continues, and the "now hiring" signs go up on every corner, and even at retail outlets wages are rising.  Businesses that are on a time line with borrowed money are worried they won’t be able to survive (or at least make the money they wanted to!).

Of course, a worse crisis is going on in Mexico City.  It’s the opposite problem – lots of workers, and not enough work.  While in Calgary we are finding ways to keep seniors in the workplace, in Mexico people our age would likely be out of luck finding work.  Yes, if you’re over 30 you’re over-the-hill in the young, energetic work force of Mexico DF.  At a time when you’re trying to pay for your family’s needs, you may find yourself with no income at all.

That means that businesses in Mexico are happy because they have their pick of the cream of the crop.  More unscrupulous employers lure workers with false promises of benefits, knowing that if they lose one person they can easily find 100 more.

Mexicans use amazing ingenuity to find work.  If you’ve been to Mexico and see the people selling things in traffic, you know what I mean.  For the tourist, it makes Mexico the greatest shopping place on earth.  But many of these people with no benefits, and really not enough to survive on, are a day from disaster.  I’ve seen statistics saying that 1/2 to 2/3 of the population is unemployed or under-employed.

Mexico DF and Calgary AB.  Worlds apart.