Left to right. Ing. Humberto Armenta Gonzalez, national president of CMIC, Lic.

Felipe Calderon
Hinojosa, President of Mexico and Dr. Luis Tellez Kuenzler, secretary of Communications and
Transport during the signing of the adhesion pact of the Productive Chain of the Construction
Industry to the “National Agreement on behalf of Family Economy and Employment” of the
Federal Government

“Together, the TEP, SCT and private initiative

we can promote the generation of 350,000
jobs”
By Humberto Armenta

In the middle of the crisis many might think that setting up the creation of 350,000 as
an objective is madness but the truth is it has solid grounds and is easy to explain.
The Temporary Employment Program (TEP), public works and the effort of
businesspeople in the Productive Chain of the Construction Industry, we can fulfill the
objective we set last January, when our sector adhered to the “National Agreement on
Behalf of Families and Employment” of the Federal Government.

The greatest contribution to the 350,000 jobs that we want to generate will be the
TEP. After amendments made to the rules of operation of this program, this support is
extending to large cities, in addition to rural areas and smaller towns which were
covered in past years. To expand its coverage, the Executive increased resources for
TEP by 40%, and this is enabling more than 250 thousand people to receive these
benefits, via a total budget of 2.2 billion pesos.
In addition, the Secretariat of Communications and Transport contemplates the
creation of 82,550 more jobs for 2009 in construction work, modernization and
conservations of highways and rural roads, for a total of 332,550 jobs.

SCT Budget and expectations of job creation in 2009

Program Total amount Number of Jobs Created
(billions) Projects
(rounded)
Construction and 22.390 93 18,750
modernization
Conservation 8.845 1,130 34,600
Rural and feeder roads 15.950 168 29,200
Subtotal 47.184 1,391 82,550
TEP (initial) 1.067 135,415
TEP (additional) 1,133 114,585

TOTAL 49.384 1,391 332,550

Source: SCT

*The Temporary Employment Program considers the occupation of individuals in various types
of works, among them construction and refurbishment of public schools, conservation of
historic and archaeological sites, construction and maintenance of rural roads and highways,
works for soil conservation and water capture, fire prevention and intensive rural hand labor
projects.

Therefore, with the activities generated by the Productive Chain of the sector, it is
expected to promote the creation of the remaining 17,450 jobs to help reach the
objective of 350,000 jobs. This objective is not simple, but together we can do it. That
is why the Mexican Construction Industry Chamber led the adhesion of all chambers
representing our sector to the President’s pact to fight against the crisis. The
Productive Chain of the Construction Industry is not only made of construction
companies, but also encompasses engineers, architects, financiers, marketing people
and all those providing raw materials and services to the construction industry such as
paint, steel, cement, concrete, wood, limestone… and different types of services. We
are one of the strongest branches in the country and it is time to prove it.

Currently, the construction industry generates more than 6 million direct and indirect
jobs, which benefit 37 of the 73 economic branches of the country. For this reason,
the construction sector is one of the motors of the country’s economy and one of the
sectors with a large multiplying effect.

Together, we can.