A project analysing informal and formal work practices in Latin America produced by Alejandro Porcel Arraut – a SocAnth PhD student since 2022 – was shortlisted for the United Nations PRI Awards 2024.
The PRI – the letters stand for Principles for Responsible Investment – is a UN-supported network of investors which works to promote sustainable investment through the incorporation of environmental, social and governance factors into financial decision-making. The PRI Awards are designed to recognise and reward asset managers, asset owners and service providers who have developed leading responsible investment strategies and stewardship practices.
Shortlisted in the category ‘System Stewardship’, and bearing the title Beyond Wages: Bridging Informal and Formal Work in Emerging Markets, the study is characterised by Alejandro as an attempt ‘to find actionable insights to transform the formal workplace into an accessible and attractive space for vulnerable communities, where they can find security and satisfaction.’
He continues:
The main initial idea was that we need to rethink informality not as the result of a formal employment supply issue, but as a workspace with many advantages for the economically poor. These advantages include flexibility, a daily cash flow, the ability to personalise their work, and a strong communitarian aspect. The obvious conclusion from this realisation was that the formal workplace has a lot to learn from its informal counterpart in order to become accessible and attractive.
The project was developed with London-based Trinetra Investment Management LLP, which describes itself as ‘a dedicated asset management boutique focusing on the investment opportunities provided by consumers in emerging markets.’ The company – a signatory of PRI since 2017 and a Certified B Corporation– states:
Our purpose is to study people’s lives in Emerging Markets to identify investible solutions to the issues they face.
Although not formally a part of Alejandro’s PhD research, the project benefits from his previous fieldwork, which has brought him into close contact with workers in various transport systems with degrees of labour formalisation. A defining moment in the creation of the new project came when, on the basis of Alejandro’s fieldwork observation and Trinetra’s field research in other countries, it was decided to engage with Alsea – a vast, multi-brand restaurant operator based in Mexico City and one of the companies in Trinetra’s Mexico portfolio – to explore collaboration opportunities.
Alejandro explains:
I went and interviewed for a Crew Member position at Burger King – which is operated by Alsea – and got rejected because I asked for flexibility. Trinetra’s Managing Partner, Tassos Stassopoulos, brought this anecdote to Alsea’s CFO and convinced him to explore a collaboration. And that’s how the project that got the nomination started.
In collaboration with Alsea and the non-profit Fundación Alsea, Alejandro interviewed 37 Alsea staff in the Burger King, Dominos, and Starbucks chains about their previous work journeys, current experiences, and future motivations. These interviews allowed the identification of vulnerable groups, and their experiences suggested ways in which the workplace might be transformed. The final report sets down specific actions to achieve this based on people’s values and workplace culture.
As the judge’s comment makes clear:
Companies needed workers, but workers often found informal work more appealing. Trinetra’s simple intervention was primary research into why. By gathering and sharing these insights with its investee company, Trinetra’s stewardship was precisely targeted to the labour market failure it identified. (Susheela Peres da Costa)
An indication of the project’s possible future impact is shown by developments that have taken place since the report was submitted to PRI. The collaboration with Alsea has inspired Fundación Alsea (founded in 2004 with the aim of improving the lives of vulnerable people and communities through sustainable social investment) to start a pilot programme with one of their restaurant brands to be operated by single mothers and young people from poor rural areas seeking their first jobs. On the basis of the project findings, it is expected that this pilot will demonstrate reduced employee turnover and a positive social impact.
Additionally, the project has been submitted by Fundación Alsea to the Starbucks Foundation in a bid for funding to be used in expanding the pilots across South America, Spain and France based on Trinetra’s research recommendations. The scale of the transformation that such programmes might achieve can be inferred from the fact that Alsea operates more than 4,500 units of restaurant chains in Mexico, Spain, Chile, Argentina, Colombia, Brazil, the Netherlands, Italy & France, and employs more than 71,000 people.
To read more about the PRI Awards 2024, go here.