Year Ends with Fewer ‘Self-Employed Workers’ Than Planned in Cuba

HAVANA TIMES — Data from Cuba’s Ministry of Labor and Social Security indicate that 398,447 Cubans were engaged in private work at the end of November, a figure below that agency’s previous forecasts.

According to island news sources cited by the Cubaencuentro website, the figure represents an increase of 3,580 people working in “non-state forms of employment” in relation to September, though officials had hoped that number to reach a half million.

The government’s ultimate goal is to have about 900,000 government workers transition into the private sector within a five-year period. According to the report, though, of the total number of self-employed workers, 68 percent hadn’t been employed by the state, only 17 percent were actually working at government jobs and 15 percent are now retired.

Deputy Minister of Labor and Social Security, Jose Barreiro, acknowledged in August that the growth in the number of self-employed had slowed.