{"id":17018,"date":"2026-09-18T16:00:00","date_gmt":"2026-09-18T21:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/expat-times.com\/panama\/?p=17018"},"modified":"2026-09-18T09:29:02","modified_gmt":"2026-09-18T14:29:02","slug":"outstanding-panama-labor-contracts-jumps-25-this-year","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/expat-times.com\/panama\/business-economy\/outstanding-panama-labor-contracts-jumps-25-this-year\/","title":{"rendered":"Outstanding! Panama Labor Contracts Jumps 25 % This Year"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Panama recorded 229,904 new employment registrations between January and August 2026, a 25.3 percent increase over the 183,508 contracts filed during the same period last year. The preliminary figures released by the Ministry of Labor and Labor Development (Mitradel) show the market added 46,396 additional work contracts<\/a>, signaling a strengthening labor market<\/a> heading into the final quarter.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

July led all months with 33,154 registrations, followed by June with 32,784 and March with 31,516. August posted the lowest monthly figure of 2026 at 22,367 contracts, but still outpaced August 2025 by 17.1 percent when 19,094 agreements were recorded.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Panama's
Panama’s Workforce Must Prepare for Incoming Opportunities (By Mitradel)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

New Employment Registrations<\/a> by Contract Type<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Fixed-term contracts continued to dominate Panama’s labor landscape, accounting for 124,407 registrations or 54.1 percent of all filings. This category grew 26 percent from 98,700 contracts in 2025. These agreements carry a predetermined end date and do not guarantee employment beyond the agreed term.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Indefinite contracts, which lack a specific termination date, reached 54,768 registrations and represented 23.8 percent of the total. While this category increased 16.2 percent from 47,143 contracts in 2025, its growth lagged behind other modalities, slightly reducing its overall share of the national labor market.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Project-based hiring showed the strongest proportional growth at 34.7 percent, climbing from 37,665 to 50,729 registrations. Under this arrangement, employment ends when the specific work, phase, or service concludes. Its weight in the overall labor market rose to 22.1 percent of all registered contracts.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"young
Project-based hiring showed the strongest proportional growth at 34.7 percent, climbing from 37,665 to 50,729 registrations.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Regional Distribution and Geographic Trends<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Panama City’s central office processed 126,687 contracts, representing 55.1 percent of the national total. The capital’s volume grew 20.1 percent from 105,473 registrations in 2025. Regional offices outside the capital contributed 103,217 contracts and expanded at a faster clip, advancing 32.3 percent year over year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Panama Oeste led all regional offices with 16,507 contracts, up 19.8 percent, followed by Chiriqu\u00ed with 15,066 and Col\u00f3n with 11,366. Col\u00f3n posted one of the sharpest increases at 80.5 percent growth. Bocas del Toro surged from 2,667 to 10,805 registrations, though its 2025 baseline excluded June data, skewing the comparison.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Dari\u00e9n grew 43.8 percent, while Herrera and Los Santos each rose roughly 20 percent. San Miguelito increased 9.5 percent and Veraguas advanced 8.6 percent. Two regions bucked the trend, with Panama East falling 10 percent from 7,017 to 6,314 contracts and Cocl\u00e9 declining 7.5 percent from 7,025 to 6,499.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"MITRADEL.
The preliminary figures released by the Ministry of Labor and Labor Development (Mitradel) show the market added 46,396 additional work contracts<\/a>. MITRADEL. By Mitradel Panam\u00e1.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Employment Outlook and Labor Market Implications<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Labor expert and business advisor Ren\u00e9 Quevedo said the contract growth supports projections for lower unemployment in 2026, highlighting a positive economic trend driven primarily by the private sector<\/strong>. He estimated the jobless rate could fall at least one percentage point below the 10.4 percent recorded in September 2025 by the National Institute of Statistics and Census (INEC).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Gender data showed men received 156,042 contract registrations compared to 73,267 for women. Both categories expanded at similar rates, 25.1 percent and 24.6 percent respectively, but the gap remains wide with roughly two of every three identified contracts going to male workers, underscoring ongoing structural challenges for female labor market formalization and equal job opportunities.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The sustained growth in new employment registrations across most regions and contract types points to broader economic activity, particularly in construction and project-based sectors that showed the fastest expansion. Whether the momentum carries through the final months of 2026 will determine if Quevedo’s unemployment projection materializes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n