4 ms·

i just hired someone (developer) from INDEC. It turns out that they pay their people "en negro" - that means the official inflation group for the country doesn'

i just hired someone (developer) from INDEC. It turns out that they pay their people "en negro" - that means the official inflation group for the country doesn't pay their taxes - they hand cash to their employees and don't report it - or report a small amount and pay a lot more 'under the table'. Yet there are advertisements (paid by the government) all over the buses in Buenos Aires that say "Trabajo mejor cuando mi trabajo es en blanco" - I work better when my work is "in white" - in other words, when my employer pays the proper official taxes. The level of hypocrisy in this country is staggering.

pvarangot 15y ago
This is a well spread practice in the federal government around here, since you've been in Argentina for many years by now I'm surprised you've just found out. The government is the biggest "en negro" employer of the country. It's also the biggest hirer of workers under precarious conditions such as fixed time contracts. Ironically, one of the biggest "en negro"-hiring branches of the federal government is the Labour Ministry. I suppose you're also not surprised by this, since you must already know the government to be the biggest everything in Argentina :P Hiring "en negro" or under precarious conditions is not only terrible because of tax evading, in this case they would only be cheating themselves. It mainly sucks to be employed that way because you loose (or its harder for you to enforce on your employer) most of the labor benefits you usually get when you are employed by someone here. In Argentina that means no social security, health plan, granted days of leave to study for exams, extra money on holidays, bonus 13th month salary, increasing days for vacations when employed for more than 5/10 years, etc... the list is in fact pretty extensive.
- pirer 15y ago
  It is not only the government that promotes these practices, but also, small businesses and workers. The idea behind this is the fact that neither party sees benefits in working completely "white".
- vegardx 15y ago
  Just out of curiosity, are you afraid that what's happening in Greece right now also will happen in Argentina? With pay raise to avoid internal conflicts and benefits beyond this planet, I see an impending doom. Is it also possible that Argentina has been on it about Falkland Islands lately, because the government also see the impending economic doom and need something to blame it on / shift focus? Very much speculation from my part, as my knowledge of Argentina is about as much as a famous footballer, but it would be interesting to get your thoughts on it!
  - smackay 15y ago
    There is a window of opportunity opening up for Argentina regarding the Falkland Islands on the diplomatic front and militarily too. With the Cold War safely out of the way the interests of the United States lie more with good relations with their South American neighbours than with their older (perhaps former) allies in Europe. Argentina's push on the diplomatic front, presenting themselves as the agreived party is likely to gain a lot more traction than it did in the 1980s. On the military side the UK is unlikely to have a credible aircraft carrier capability for at least another 10 years, if ever. If the airbase on the islands could be neutralized then the chances of creating another Task Force to liberate the islands once more are very slim indeed.
    - cenuij 15y ago
      Are you mad? The UK could easily press the Ark Royal back into service and still has HMS Illustrious. Even if the Argentine Mirages could get past the UK's type 45 destroyers, which is unlikely because the type 45 is considered the best air defence class destroyer in the world, they would still have to contend with an upgraded version of the harriers that spanked them in the last war. Any Argentine Naval operations would have to somehow get passed the UK submarine fleet. And this is all under the assumption that the Typhoons stationed at Mount Pleasant somehow fell from the sky instead of flying circles round any Mirage attacks or sinking any Argentine naval ingression. And as for ground operations? It's not even funny how badly the Argentine troops would fare against the now Afghan and Iraq battle-hardened UK paratroop and royal marine regiments.

pvarangot 15y ago

This is a well spread practice in the federal government around here, since you've been in Argentina for many years by now I'm surprised you've just found out. The government is the biggest "en negro" employer of the country. It's also the biggest hirer of workers under precarious conditions such as fixed time contracts. Ironically, one of the biggest "en negro"-hiring branches of the federal government is the Labour Ministry. I suppose you're also not surprised by this, since you must already know the government to be the biggest everything in Argentina :P Hiring "en negro" or under precarious conditions is not only terrible because of tax evading, in this case they would only be cheating themselves. It mainly sucks to be employed that way because you loose (or its harder for you to enforce on your employer) most of the labor benefits you usually get when you are employed by someone here. In Argentina that means no social security, health plan, granted days of leave to study for exams, extra money on holidays, bonus 13th month salary, increasing days for vacations when employed for more than 5/10 years, etc... the list is in fact pretty extensive.

pirer 15y ago
It is not only the government that promotes these practices, but also, small businesses and workers. The idea behind this is the fact that neither party sees benefits in working completely "white".
vegardx 15y ago
Just out of curiosity, are you afraid that what's happening in Greece right now also will happen in Argentina? With pay raise to avoid internal conflicts and benefits beyond this planet, I see an impending doom. Is it also possible that Argentina has been on it about Falkland Islands lately, because the government also see the impending economic doom and need something to blame it on / shift focus? Very much speculation from my part, as my knowledge of Argentina is about as much as a famous footballer, but it would be interesting to get your thoughts on it!
- smackay 15y ago
  There is a window of opportunity opening up for Argentina regarding the Falkland Islands on the diplomatic front and militarily too. With the Cold War safely out of the way the interests of the United States lie more with good relations with their South American neighbours than with their older (perhaps former) allies in Europe. Argentina's push on the diplomatic front, presenting themselves as the agreived party is likely to gain a lot more traction than it did in the 1980s. On the military side the UK is unlikely to have a credible aircraft carrier capability for at least another 10 years, if ever. If the airbase on the islands could be neutralized then the chances of creating another Task Force to liberate the islands once more are very slim indeed.
  - cenuij 15y ago
    Are you mad? The UK could easily press the Ark Royal back into service and still has HMS Illustrious. Even if the Argentine Mirages could get past the UK's type 45 destroyers, which is unlikely because the type 45 is considered the best air defence class destroyer in the world, they would still have to contend with an upgraded version of the harriers that spanked them in the last war. Any Argentine Naval operations would have to somehow get passed the UK submarine fleet. And this is all under the assumption that the Typhoons stationed at Mount Pleasant somehow fell from the sky instead of flying circles round any Mirage attacks or sinking any Argentine naval ingression. And as for ground operations? It's not even funny how badly the Argentine troops would fare against the now Afghan and Iraq battle-hardened UK paratroop and royal marine regiments.