At 7 am, in the streets of Mexico City, the birds are waking up but the workers are already running in all directions. Adolfo is an accountant and works 8 hours a day, not counting the 4 hours he spends in transport. “I have my job and, in addition, I work as a freelance accountant in my free timehe breathes. Given the current situation, we have no choice. You have to have multiple jobs.” Adolfo is one of the privileged, those who have a five-day week, holidays, social security… These conditions are synonymous with paradise in a country where nearly 60% of the active population works in the informal economy.
María Guadalupe leaves home at 9 a.m. and returns at 2 a.m. From Monday to Sunday, she runs a flower stand. The word “vacation”? The Mexican does not know: “Well, yes! The other day I took a vacation, I went on a day trip out of town.”
“I told my children that they had to study to have the English week. The English week is Monday to Friday and the Mexican week is seven days a week, 24 hours a day.”
Most businesses are open Monday through Sunday, 7 a.m. to 10 p.m. If there are still some public holidays, they are only observed in certain companies. Manuel, 36, has a formal job in a small taco restaurant, the typical Mexican dish, six days a week. “I work 11 hours a dayhe says. It’s not too tiring. I have one week of vacation per year. In Mexico we have to work more because the wages are very low.”
A Mexican works about 48 hours a week. This is the highest average of all members of the OECD (Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development). At 62, Lourdes cleans offices and is convinced: she will never retire. The 60-year-old can’t afford it. Siesta under the sombrero may be for tourists, but not for Mexicans.