Informality and precarious work. An approach from multilevel sales in León, Guanajuato, México

Abstract

Precariousness is considered an underlying element in work, especially in informal work. The objective of this essay is to analyze how the business strategy of multi-level sales has generated precariousness in Mary Kay beauty product sellers in León, Guanajuato. Informal work has been developed as a successful flexibility strategy and has maintained special interest in the women's market sector. The approach with some collaborators allowed us to learn about the precarious conditions to which they are exposed when working informally without having a contractual relationship with the company. The way in which the information was collected included the of three semi-structured interviews and a focus group during the period November 2022 and January 2023, which included seven consultants and a director of the multilevel network of two different sales units, one of the areas north and another from the south of the city of León, Guanajuato.

The discussion revolves around the precariousness that implies assuming the condition of entrepreneurs, compared to aspects that may be liberating, such as independence and the use of time, become the main precarious factors, since they channel the time of attention to activities. daily activities towards the commercialization of Mary Kay products, thus experiencing an intermittent double shift between productive and reproductive work. Which is promoted by the company with the discourse that the sellers are independent collaborators who own their time, which in turn prevents establishing a formal employment relationship beyond being independent marketers of Mary Kay products, since under the figures of consultants and directors, the company has evaded the employer's obligation to provide the minimum social benefits required by the Federal Labor Law in Mexico, which impacts the ways and quality of life of the women who join these forms of work.