EL SALVADOR

INTRODUCTION

Republic of El Salvador is the smallest and second-least populated country in Central America with 6.77 million people (Statista, 2020). El Salvador is located entirely on the western side of the isthmus, borders Honduras to the North and Northeast, Guatemala to the northwest. The south coast of El Salvador is the Pacific Ocean. San Salvador is the largest city, also the capital of El Salvador.

Almost nine-tenths of the population is mestizo (people of mixed indigenous and European ancestry); the remainder consists of indigenous peoples (including the Izalco and, from the village of Panchimalco, the Pancho), people of European ancestry, and other small groups. Spanish is the official language and there are some other indigenous dialects (Schultze-Kraft, 2020).

El Salvador suffered from civil war from 1981 that didn’t end until 1992. The war destroyed their economy and caused massive displacement of the population. It is estimated that about one-fifth of the population left the country and a large number among those settled in the United States, work and send remittances to their relatives back home (Schultze-Kraft, 2020). The emigration of many young Salvadorans caused a decline in birth rates.

El Salvador is a developing country that faces the following issues:

• Natural disasters such as earthquakes and floods: the most recent tropical storm Amanda caused major destruction in San Salvador.
• Heavy reliance of remittance from the United States: Personal remittance to GDP is 20.93% in 2019 (The World Bank, 2019).
• Official corruption with high gang activities: El Salvador has major gang problems that affect the job opportunities for youths living in those areas.
• Underemployment of youths.

RECRUITMENT PRACTICES

I. PREFACE:

El Salvadore Workforce:

El Salvadoreans might not willing to work if the remittance amount they receive from abroad is higher than their wages. People from Honduras and Nicaragua come to El Savaldor to take up the jobs that the locals are not willing to take (USA International Business Publication, 2012). One result is that rural youth, who receive a large percentage of these remittances, have become less inclined to work in agriculture and other lower-wage industries vital to local economies. On the other hand, research suggests that remittances have helped boost school attendance and retention in rural areas (Aho et al., 2012, pp. 20)

Labour Code:

According to Romero, Mendez and Pineda (2007):

The Labour Code 1972 regulates employment relationships between employers and employees. The Ministry of Labour, Labour Courts, Labour Appeal Courts and the Supreme Court of Justice have jurisdiction over labour related disputes. The Labour Code applies to all foreign and domestic employees working in El Salvador. All labour law is mandatory and cannot be contracted out of in the employment agreement.

Keep in mind that laws and regulations also apply to working hours and overtime. El Salvador has a six-day workweek that totals 44 hours maximum (Express Global Employement, n.d.).

For the official Labour Law in Spanish, please follow this LINK.

II. RECRUITMENT PROCESS:

Step 1: Create job description

Job description must include:

• Full name of employer 
• Job title, main duties and responsibilities 
• Start date of employment 
• Duration of employment (if you are employed on a fixed-term contract)

Step 2: Spread information about job postings.

• Newspaper: The San Salvador newspaper Diario Latino is also a great place to advertise jobs for both residents and nonresidents.
• Visits high schools, conferences and other areas where youth are concentrated to help with under-employment of youths.
• Recruitment process with a focus on local churches is a common practice in El Salvador. 
• Post jobs on social media (Facebook)
• Post jobs on job posting sites: LinkedIN, JobBoard Finder, etc. (online job boards are not as common)
• Use a recruiter

SELECTION PRACTICES

Step 1: Review Resumes

• CV is not a common practice in El Salvador, only Resume is deemed sufficient.
• Resume will include photo of applicant and their personal information such as age, gender. It’s normal practice since companies in El Salvadore often states the age range of their preferred candidates (e.g. under 35). Resume can be very creatively designed.

Step 2: Conduct Interviews

• Call applicants for interview (first with HR and then second with reporting manager)
• First interview must be conducted face-to-face or over Zoom. Noted: applicants want to see employer face due to high gang activities. They need to know who are they meeting. Never conduct first interview through phone call.
• Last interview with manager can be informal over lunch and dinner.

Step 3: Pre-employment screening:

• Assessment tests if needed.
• Reference check.
• Run security checks to make sure applicants have not been involved in delinquent activity or do not reside in areas afflicted by gangs
• If you are ok with hiring ex-gang members, you still need to verify that such applicants were working with local organization to change their behaviors.

Step 4: Job Offer

A written contract in Spanish is recommended even though there isn’t a requirement for employment contract (can even be oral). NGO might need to hire local recruiters to draft contract in Spanish.

MISCELLANEOUS

NGOs are encourage to hire youths and ex-gang members.

Hiring youths

Government provides tax incentives for hiring youths:

“…The amendment to Article 21 establishes that companies will be given the following tax incentives: Companies that hire two to six young people without work experience, will be able to reduce from their income the equivalent of three minimum wages in the sector concerned.

“… In cases where seven to 12 young people are hired, companies will be able to reduce four minimum wages from their income, but if they hire more than 13 young people, they can reduce five times the minimum wage from their income.”

Laprensagrafica.com

Overall, in a region where 16-to-24-year-olds comprise nearly 20 percent of the population, youth unemployment is nearly triple that of the adult population (Aho et al., 2012, pp. 19). Low levels of education and vocational training, a lack of prior work experience and inflexible labor laws are all barriers to youth employment. The data is even worse for those at lower income levels or with fewer opportunities than their peers; unemployment or underemployment is the reality for 60 percent of youth with nine years or less of education.

Barbaras and Valero (2019) suggested that three ways to improve youth employments are: changing view of hiring youths, getting creative about transportation to large cities and outsourcing remote work to outside San Salvador.

Hiring ex-gang members

It’s recommended that employers include candidates with gang histories from the employee selection process, but verify that such applicants were working with local organizations to change their behaviour. According to Aho et al. (2012), such effort has shown great result by League Collegiate Wear which successfully hire 25 ex-gang members, representing 13% of their payroll.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Aho M., Marczak, J., Segovia, K., and Petrone, T. (2012). Bringing Youth Into the Labour Market: Public-Private Efforts amid Insecurity and Migration. Americas Society Council of the Americas. Available at: https://www.as-coa.org/sites/default/files/FORD_WP_MarketAccess_0.pdf [Accessed: 27 October, 2020]

Barbaras, E. and Valero, C. (2019). Three Ways to Make Hiring More Inclusive of Vulnerable Youth: Lessons from El Salvador. DAI. Available at: https://dai-global-developments.com/articles/three-ways-to-make-hiring-more-inclusive-of-vulnerable-youth-lessons-from-el-salvador [Accessed: 25 October, 2020]

BBC News (2020). Tropical Storm Amanda; At least 14 dead in El Salvador. [Online]. Available at: https://www.bbc.com/news/world-latin-america-52876044. [Accessed on: 26 October, 2020]

Central America Data (2017). El Salvador: Tax Incentive for Hiring Young People. [Online]. Available at:  https://centralamericadata.com/en/article/home/El_Salvador_Tax_Incentive_for_Hiring_Young_People [Accessed: 26 October, 2020]

Express Global Employment (n.d). Global HR Compliance in El Salvador [Online] Available at: https://www.expressglobalemployment.com/countries/central-america/el-salvador/global-hr-compliance/. [Accessed: 25 Oct 2020]

Romero, J., Mendez, A., and Pineda, R. (2012). Doing Business in El Salvador. Practical Law [Online]. Available at: https://www.worldservicesgroup.com/guides/ElSalvador.pdf [Accessed: 26 October, 2020]

Statista (2020). El Salvador. Statista. Available at: https://www-statista-com.ezproxy.capilanou.ca/study/66117/el-salvador/ [Accessed: 26 October, 2020]

Schultze-Kraft, M. (2020). El Salvador. Britannica. Available at: https://www.britannica.com/place/El-Salvadorador [Accessed: 26 October, 2020]

Terrazas, A. (2010). Salvadoran Immigrants in the United States in 2008. Migration Policy Institute. Available at: https://www.migrationpolicy.org/article/salvadoran-immigrants-united-states-2008 [Accessed: 25 October 2020]

The World Bank (2019). Personal Remittances, received (% of GDP) – El Salvador [Online] Available at: https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/BX.TRF.PWKR.DT.GD.ZS?locations=SV [Accessed: 26 October, 2020]

USA International Business Publications (2012) El Salvador Business Law Handbook. International Business Publication, USA.