Youth employment and dual training, keys to a competitive agribusiness

Guayaquil, Ecuador.- On January 23, the forum “Ecuador 2026 Labor Scenarios: Trends and Challenges to Boost Business Competitiveness” was held, organized by the Ecuadorian-American Chamber of Commerce Guayaquil (Amcham Guayaquil). The event was attended by Harold Burbano, Minister of Labor; Leonardo Viteri, Vice President of Corporate Affairs at Reybanpac; Denisse Guerrero, Director of Human Resources at American Call Center; and Emilio Gallardo, Legal Director of the Ecuadorian Business Committee.

In his speech, Leonardo Viteri addressed the impact of talent management on business competitiveness in a dynamic environment such as agro-exports. He highlighted the importance of human talent capable of meeting the challenges and demands of the sector through improved productivity, consistent quality, innovation, and sustainability. To this end, he pointed out, it is necessary to have conditions that promote formal employment and then mechanisms that develop the skills required by the sectors.

Viteri also highlighted the need to strengthen dual technical training to ensure a general succession that guarantees the sustainability of the agricultural sector. "Young people must be offered a modern approach, and the mechanism for promoting the incorporation of this talent into agribusiness is dual training, where we talk about the concept of learning by doing. In other words, how do I incorporate, through effective practice, someone who specializes in a technical skill? This is achieved through partnerships between companies, academia, and the community," he explained.

As an example, Viteri cited AGROFUTURO, a macro-project carried out in conjunction with the Wong Foundation, focused on generating technical skills for agriculture that encourage decent employment and entrepreneurship through two strategies: the Technical Baccalaureate (BT) at the Segundo Wong Mayorga Educational Unit and the Technical Assistant programs in Banana (ATB), Livestock (ATG), and soon Forestry (ATF).

For his part, Labor Minister Harold Burbano addressed the National Government's vision regarding the development of a national plan for employability and poverty reduction that stems from dialogue, unity, and technical decisions that contribute to the country. This includes opening up short-term opportunities that will boost employment and increase formality quickly and with legal certainty, the official said.

Denisse Guerrero, Director of Human Resources at American Call Center, focused on talent development and organizational culture as a means for growth, competitiveness, and sustainability in companies. She highlighted the importance of promoting agile, results-oriented cultures in organizations that are open to error in order to make room for innovation.

Finally, Emilio Gallardo, legal director of the Ecuadorian Business Committee, contributed an analysis from a business perspective of the country's legal and regulatory framework and urged the promotion of regulatory and legal reforms that encourage increased formality in different productive sectors. “In the formal sector, we are interested in having more formal companies so that unfair competition is reduced,” he said.