Santa Cruz leads growth in Bolivia's urban salaried employment

Data from the Center for Labor and Agrarian Development Studies (CEDLA) indicates that urban salaried employment in Bolivia's four main cities grew between 2008 and 2023. The number of salaried workers in La Paz, El Alto, Cochabamba, and Santa Cruz rose from 903,001 to 1,119,923 during this period. Santa Cruz de la Sierra led this growth, increasing its salaried workforce from 379,268 in 2008 to 471,190 in 2023, maintaining a relative share of approximately 42% of the total for these four cities.

However, the study notes that this growth is accompanied by an expansion of extremely precarious salaried jobs. CEDLA also critiques the use of the International Labour Organization's “informal employment” concept by authorities, arguing it is often used as a synonym for non-salaried work, which may misrepresent the characteristics of the national workforce.

In a separate context regarding the regional economy, the Mayor of Santa Cruz de la Sierra, Manuel Saavedra, addressed economic uncertainty during the inauguration of Expocruz 2026. Saavedra acknowledged that families, entrepreneurs, and workers are facing difficulties in maintaining income and employment, but emphasized the region's historical capacity to overcome adverse economic scenarios through productivity and organization.