The number of workers registered in productive units fell between November 2023 and August 2025, representing a loss of 276,624 jobs, according to a report from the Argentine Center for Political Economy (CEPA). This means that since the assumption of office by President Javier Milei's government, registered jobs in productive units have been reduced by 2.81%, which meant a loss of more than 432 workers per day during that period. Significant declines were also recorded in the sectors of "Transport and Storage Services" (59,838 fewer jobs), and "Manufacturing Industry" (55,941 fewer jobs). "Construction", in turn, was the most affected sector in relative terms: the number of registered workers fell by 16% between November 2023 and August 2025. Followed by "Transport and Storage Services", with a contraction of 11.2%; and "Artistic, Cultural, Sports and Recreation Services", which recorded a decrease of 7.1% in the same period. The report analyzes the evolution of the number of employers and workers since Milei's victory in the 2023 runoff, after he won the presidency against Sergio Massa, based on the data available at the time of its publication. It uses a quantitative methodology based on information provided by the Superintendence of Labor Risks (SRT), corresponding to the Social Security system. Almost 30 companies closed per day Regarding employers with registered workers, in the first twenty-one months of the Milei government, they decreased from 512,357 to 493,193: a contraction of 19,164 companies, that is, almost 30 companies per day. The CEPA report reflects the "negative trend in the business fabric" during November 2023-August 2025. "Transport and Storage Services" was the most affected, with a loss of 4,685 employees during that period. Thus, the workforce decreased from 9,857,173 in November 2023 to 9,580,549 in August 2025. Job loss by sectors According to what Argentine News Agency was able to find out, the most affected sector in terms of job loss was "Public administration, defense and mandatory social security", with a reduction of 86,982 workers in the twenty-one months of the libertarian government. It is followed by the "Construction" sector, which lost 76,292 jobs in the same period. They are followed by the sectors of "Services of organizations and extraterritorial bodies" (-10.8%), "Real estate services" (-9.9%) and "Construction" (-8.2%), among the hardest hit. The CEPA document also shows the variation in the number of employers and workers by company size, observing that companies of up to 500 workers are the most affected by the libertarian management: 99.63% of the total cases - equivalent to 19,094 fewer companies. Conversely, the number of employers with more than 500 workers accounts for only 0.37% (70 cases). In relative terms, the number of employers with more than 500 workers decreased by 3.88%, while employers with up to 500 workers decreased by 3.74% in the period from November 2023 to August 2025. Large employers concentrate the largest loss If the loss of registered employment is considered according to company size, it is observed that the largest expulsion of workers was concentrated in large firms, with companies of more than 500 workers representing 68.15% of the total decline in registered employment (equivalent to 188,525 jobs). In contrast, companies with fewer than 500 employees reduced their workforce by 88,099 workers, which represents 31.85% of the total jobs lost between November 2023 and August 2025. In percentage terms, this represents a reduction of 3.94% of the workforce in companies with more than 500 workers - from 4,782,973 to 4,594,448 -, while in firms with up to 500, their staff decreased by 1.74% - from 5,074,200 to 4,986,101. In this regard, CEPA indicated that this shows a "marked setback in key employment indicators, with significant declines in both the number of employers and the volume of registered jobs".
