Effects of the pandemic on the industry.

In mid-March in Mexico the alert was given about the contingency of COVID-19, the WHO classified it as a pandemic and the Mexican Government declared a health emergency; At the end of the same month, the Federal Government decreed the start of phase 2 and the suspension of non-essential operations, including the activities carried out by the maquiladora companies located on the northern border of the country.

It is fair to highlight that despite the state authority, during the month of April a verification campaign was launched against the maquiladora companies installed in the state and ordered the closure of those that, due to their activity or production process, were not related to the assembly of essential products in accordance with the decree published by the Federal Government for this purpose, the reality is that few maquiladoras were closed putting the health of the workers at risk.

According to data from the State Government itself, of the totality of the almost 1,000 maquiladoras (943 according to INEGI figures) that are established in Baja California, only 32% of them stopped their work and sent their workers to their homes and from that amount, 141 did so because the state authority ordered their closure; It is understandable since Tijuana experienced an epidemic peak during the second part of April and the first half of May, and it is in this city where the majority of maquiladora companies are concentrated, which continued to operate without restrictions; On the other hand, in Mexicali the municipal authorities established administrative measures that helped to restrict the mobility of the population; However, when said measures were relaxed, it caused the second epidemic peak that the city is experiencing today.

During the reintegration process, the state authority granted certificates of «essential companies» to those dedicated to the aerospace, automotive and military industries. Said request may demonstrate that it has not reduced its workforce, a situation that coincided with the epidemic traffic light decree issued by the Federal Government.

In short, we could say that; The economic consequences in the maquiladora industry up to now have been few, however, the epidemic will cause the closure of some industries and mainly those that are not part of a multinational group or that their production process can be replaced in the United States America or Canada.

Some of the negative effects that could have occurred in the economic aspect, were referred to 32% of the industry and whose consequence was based on not being able to sell and invoice the maquila services and instead assume the economic expenses that those fixed expenses represent as ; income, professional services, public services and without a doubt that of the wages and salaries of its workforce. INDEX itself considers that the true economic effects will be experienced in the following months as the pandemic progresses and as the need for the products of which the maquiladora companies are part of the production process decreases or increases.
Additionally, the projections of said association raise the possibility that many of the productive chains of North American companies that are in Asia, will most likely be rethought to be transferred to Mexico, in order to reduce the times of supply of materials and suppliers, This indicates that said agency will give Mexico a great opportunity to reconvert the industry to the extent of delivering what they call technology 4.0, which would strengthen the entire North American block. In other words, they foresee a great opportunity for Mexico.

Finally, even when talking about a new normal in the return of economic activities, the reality in the maquiladora industry is that it is being based on the use of sanitary measures such as the use of alcoholic gel, face masks, sanitizing mats and the The use of acrylics in the dining room areas, not so much in what is essential in this new normal, which is to maintain a healthy distance, a situation that on the one hand the authority demands, but it prevents the reduction of personnel and instead it is spoken of staggered schedules which is impossible to comply with, since the maquiladoras for years have managed different production schedules, some of them have up to 3 work shifts which would prevent the staggering.

The challenge for the maquiladora industry in this regard will be to be able to meet the requirement of healthy distance and to be able to maintain its work team.

In conclusion, the economic and labor effects of the maquiladora industry are yet to come, while some have conservative or pessimistic aspects, others see an opportunity for diversification of the industry, which, it is clear, is that this pandemic has put us a Stop our daily life, it has put us in a situation of resilience and put into practice our empathy and solidarity at all levels.