The Precariousness of Health Workers. a Global Phenomenon That Threatens Labour Rights and Health Care for Populations.

Introduction

. Precarisation of labour has spread in both industrialised and low- and middle-income economies. In the health sector, this phenomenon affects huge numbers of workers, causing them to lose, in a short period of time, rights acquired over decades. In Mexico, precarious employment affects 60% of health care workers and the negative consequences of this process are very diverse. Initially it affects the health of the workers themselves, but secondarily it also affects the capacity of the system to provide quality services and cover the entire Mexican population, mainly the most impoverished groups, which represent 36% of the total population in the country. Methods. The main source of information used is the National Employment and Occupation Survey of the National Institute of Statistics, which was complemented by in-depth interviews with key individual and institutional actors. Results. The precariousness of health workers is a phenomenon that has increased over the last 25 years, but which was exponentially exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic, as the health system hired around 40,000 workers under precarious conditions to deal with the health crisis generated by the pandemic. In the post-pandemic phase, health workers face enormous difficulties in providing high quality services also associated to lack of drugs and other supplies. Conclusion. Precariousness of work in health shows that the work of doctors, nurses and other labour groups is understood as an instrument for the production of health services in both the private and public sectors. In the private sector it helps to regulate the competitiveness of institutions in the face of market competition, and in the public sector it cushions the effect of the reduction in the public health budget, which has not grown in Mexico in the last 15 years.