- « The guaranteed income of households of different sizes with appropriate numbers of workers continue to be higher than the respective relative poverty line in 2022 »
Le nombre de salariés ayant perdu leur emploi entre octobre 2021 et septembre 2022 s’élève à 7 638. Ce constat a été enregistré à l’Inspection and Enforcement Section et à la Special Migrant Workers Unit du ministère du Travail. C’est ce qu’indique, entre autres, le cinquième rapport du National Wage Consultative Council (NWCC).
Parmi les 7 638 licenciés, 2 626 paires de mains ont perdu leur emploi à la suite de la fermeture de 762 entreprises, de la compression du personnel, d’un exercice de restructuration et de difficultés financières. Durant la même période, 5 012 personnes ont perdu leur job pour mauvaise conduite, entre autres raisons. Le plus grand nombre de pertes d’emploi a été enregistré dans les secteurs suivants : Distributive Trade, construction et tourisme/Catering.
« The highest number of job losses due to economic reasons has occurred in the Blockmaking/Construction sector followed by the Distributive Trade sector and the Catering and Tourism sector. It is also worth noting that out of the 7 638 cases of termination of employment during this period, 1 702 were in different sectors not covered by any Remuneration Regulations, out of which 485, i.e., 28.5 %, have been attributed to economic reasons », indique le document avalisé par le conseil des ministres lors des deliberations de vendredi dernier.
Le rapport note aussi une contraction générale dans le secteur informel. « The proportion of the contributing Mauritian employees to total employees (full-time and part-time), including self-employed, increased from 64.1 per cent in Q4 of 2017 to 80.3 percent in Q2 2021 and 87.3 per cent in Q2 of 2022 denoting a general contraction of the informal sector. »
Quant au secteur des Export-Oriented Enterprises, le nombre ne cesse de diminuer que ce soit avant ou après la mise en application du salaire minimum.
« Both the number of enterprises and employment, which have been on a downward trend prior to the introduction of the National Minimum Wage, continued thereafter to decline. While the number of enterprises in the EOEs fell from 235 in June 2021 to 232 in June 2022, employment fell by 959 from 36 047 in June 2021 to 35 088 in June 2022. However, the fall in employment of 959 from June 2021 to June 2022 is made up of a decrease of 1 319 foreign employees coupled with an increase of 360 Mauritian employees », fait ressortir le rapport.
D’autre part, il est souligné que la mise en œuvre du National Minimum Wage (NMW) n’a pas affecté la croissance dans le secteur de l’emploi. Le nombre d’emplois qui se chiffrait à 466 600 en 2021 est passé à 515 500 en 2022, soit une hausse de 48 900 emplois de plus. Le pourcentage des femmes employées tourne autour de 40% en 2021 et en 2022. « The share of female employees in employment as a proportion of total employment remains more or less constant at around 40 per cent in Q2 2021 and Q2 2022. However, the share of female employees in employment as a proportion of total economically active female employees increased from 87.5 percent in Q2 of 2021 to 89.8 per cent in Q2 of 2022 », signale le rapport.
Le même document met en avant que le maintien de la CSG Income Allowance de Rs 1 000 pour les travailleurs touchant moins de Rs 50 000 a contribué à améliorer le pouvoir d’achat et le niveau de vie des ménages. « The guaranteed income of the National Minimum Wage worker coupled with the income allowance of Rs 1 000 granted to all employees with gross income of up to Rs 50 000 a month, has improved the standard of living of households with the appropriate number of wage earners. Though the guaranteed income of households of different sizes with appropriate numbers of workers continue to be higher than the respective Relative Poverty Line in 2022, the extent will be narrowed when compared to 2021», poursuit le rapport.
Il est néanmoins précisé dans cet argumentaire que « if the Rs 1 000 allowance granted by Government to all employees with gross income of up to Rs 50 000 a month is accounted for, the guaranteed income under the NMW scheme coupled with Rs 1 000 allowance would exceed the RPL as follows: for households with one adult member who is a wage earner, the guaranteed income plus allowance granted by Government i.e., Rs 12 075 would be higher than the Relative Poverty Line of Rs 9 200 by 31.3 per cent; for households with two adult members who are full-time wage earners, the guaranteed income plus allowance granted by Government i.e., Rs 24 150 would be higher than the RPL of Rs 14 900 by 62.1 per cent; and for households with two adults and two children and two wage earners, the guaranteed income plus allowance granted by Government i.e., Rs 24 150 would be higher than the Relative Poverty Line of Rs 21 600 by 11.8 per cent. »