The Poor in the City

Abstract

The declining significance of locality for job recruitment means an increase in job mobility and a greater discontinuity in the occupational careers of these workers. This occurs partly because age and literacy are not qualifications that commit an individual to any particular type of job. Consequently, a worker can seek out better job opportunities, but lack of personal commitments also means that he is more easily replaceable. Also, with the proliferation of small enterprises the work situation itself becomes more unstable and sensitive to changes in the economic climate of Guatemala. Newly established enterprises do not have stable relationships with a clientele in city or countryside. In time of prosperity, the number of enterprises increases and established ones take on additional workers to meet the demand, but during economic depressions or those fluctuations occasioned by political events, enterprises fail and lay off workers.