Labor market in El Salvador

The economically active population, called PEA in El Salvador, includes people participating in the labor market under the source's measurement rules. The 2024 census measured the PEA from age 10 and reported a national participation rate of 52.5%. Within the PEA, 95.5% was employed. Participation was 66.4% for men and 40.4% for women, reflecting substantial differences in access to work, unpaid care responsibilities and available opportunities. Among workers, 85% worked at least 25 hours per week; 47.6% worked 25 to 44 hours and 30.6% worked 45 to 60 hours. Employment status is mixed. Private-sector employees represented 45.3% of workers, self-employed workers 29.3%, public-sector employees 11.8%, employers 5.8%, domestic workers 3.4% and unpaid family workers 2.6%. Women made up 85.3% of domestic workers. Men represented 62.4% of private-sector employees and 56.2% of public-sector employees. These figures describe different positions in the labor market and do not by themselves show whether work provides a written contract, social insurance or stable income. The annual Household Survey of Multiple Purposes, known as EHPM, has measured labor-market conditions since 1975. The National Office of Statistics and Censuses, ONEC, has been responsible for the statistical system since December 2022. EHPM results can be examined nationally, by urban and rural area, in the Área Metropolitana de San Salvador, and by department. SIMEL is the central public labor-market data and analysis platform. Figures from the EHPM, the 2024 census, payroll records and employer surveys use different definitions and reference populations, so the source and reference year need to be checked before comparing them. Regional differences are substantial. Labor-force participation was highest in San Salvador at 59.0% and La Libertad at 57.2%, and lowest in La Unión at 44.2%. Santa Ana reached 54.7%, La Paz 53.3%, Sonsonate 52.7%, Cuscatlán 52.4% and San Miguel 50.3%. San Salvador, La Libertad, Santa Ana and San Miguel function as major labor-market and education centers. The national labor-market framework does not create a separate municipal rule for these departments, but local access to jobs, training and digital services still varies by territory. Average educational attainment was eight years of schooling. The average reached 9.6 years in San Salvador, 8.7 in La Libertad and 6.1 in La Unión. INCAF provides technical, vocational and craft training, certification and employment-oriented training. Available courses depend on department, provider, delivery method, target group and remaining places, so a qualification pathway is not equally available everywhere. Employer demand for 2025 and 2026 was surveyed through ENDEL among 827 medium-sized and large companies. More than 300,000 formal jobs were represented, 83.8% of surveyed companies planned to hire within twelve months, and the survey identified 28,549 vacancies across 970 job profiles. Main sectors included commerce, food and beverages, finance and insurance, textiles and clothing, administrative and support services, digital and technology services and tourism. Frequently requested positions included customer service, sewing and garment production, call-center work, production, sales, warehouse work, cooking, retail sales, security and cleaning. Demand also covered production and operations, logistics, administration and information technology. Employers most often sought soft skills, reported by 72.9% of surveyed companies, followed by technical skills at 60.3%, digital skills at 30.6%, specific digital tools at 26.0%, management skills at 13.4%, a second language at 16.9% and certificates at 10.4%. Skills shortages affected 60.7% of surveyed companies. Reported constraints included the offered wage, too few applicants, limited experience and gaps in technical or soft skills. Examples of requested certificates included Office, forklift operation, Licencia T, HACCP or BPM and ISO-related training. ENDEL-MYPE, covering 807 micro and small enterprises, identified 1,942 expected positions within twelve months, especially in commerce, digital and technology services, tourism, construction, scientific and technical services, administration and support, health, finance and insurance. Formal and informal work have different practical consequences. Payroll records showed 1,035,587 formal payroll jobs in June 2025, 2.8% more than in June 2024. Payroll and ISSS records cover formal segments rather than the entire workforce. In 2023, independent non-agricultural informal work numbered 779,113 and represented 45.2% of that segment. This figure must not be treated as the total national informality rate. The largest volumes were in commerce, hotels and restaurants; manufacturing; construction; transport, storage and communications; and municipal, social and health services. Informality rates were especially high in domestic services at 71.4%, commerce, hotels and restaurants at 59.3%, construction at 58.7%, transport at 49.5% and manufacturing at 47.2%. Informal work is particularly common in self-employment, commerce, construction and domestic services, where reliable contracts and social protection may be limited. From 1 June 2025, the monthly statutory minimum wage was USD 408.80 for commerce, services, industry and sugar mills; USD 402.26 for textile and clothing maquila; USD 305.38 for coffee-processing benefits and sugar-cane harvesting; and USD 272.70 for agriculture, fishing, coffee harvesting and other agricultural activities. Actual pay depends on qualifications, occupation, sector and whether the work is formal. A 2023 San Salvador services survey recorded monthly averages of USD 1,277.80 for managers, USD 725.20 for technicians and professionals, and USD 410.70 for operators. Those figures are historical benchmarks and should not be carried forward as 2025 wages. Formal employers register workers with ISSS, the Salvadoran Social Security Institute. Under the special domestic-service regime, the worker contribution is 3.0%, the employer contribution is 7.5% and the combined contribution is 10.5%. Informal workers may have more limited access to social protection. The legal position also depends on the employment relationship, contract, sector and applicable social-insurance rules. The Ministry of Labor and Social Welfare, MTPS, provides public job matching through its Directorate General of Employment. Oportunidades is a free digital service that connects applicant profiles with vacancies without an intermediary. Lunes de Empleo takes place weekly through 14 departmental offices and provides advice and profiling. Registration traditionally uses a DUI, résumé and supporting documents. Digital access and territorial distance can still affect practical use of these services. Labor-market policy is changing through SIMEL, improved public payroll reporting, digital matching and INCAF training. INCAF is also examining demand related to automation, information technology, cloud systems, Power BI, enterprise-resource planning, cybersecurity, geographic information systems, the Internet of Things and building information modeling. The COVID-19 period showed how exposed informal workers can be to economic shocks, and independent non-agricultural informality rose to 779,113 in 2023 after declining in 2022. Migration also shapes El Salvador's labor market. El Salvador is primarily a country of origin for labor migrants, with the United States, Canada, Guatemala and other countries among the main destinations. Employment abroad is concentrated mainly in services, while migration, remittances, skills loss and return entrepreneurship affect the domestic supply of labor. MTPS's Labor Migration Program supports regular, orderly and safer temporary work abroad. Access requires Salvadoran nationality, age 18 to 55, medical fitness, no relevant criminal record, valid migration status, relevant work experience and complete information. Registration is online and selection depends on the specific offer. By April 2024, the program had provided more than 10,500 temporary work opportunities in the United States with more than 300 companies in fishing, horticulture, construction, manufacturing and hospitality.