«The only certainty we have is that there will be 1,000 layoffs, which is approximately 30% of the total number of workers. It is the principle of scrapping in the INTI«. The climate of uncertainty and unease in the agency’s office in Bariloche is absolute.
The wave of layoffs in the State continues. Days ago, the Government announced the decision to lay off 30% of the workers at the National Institute of Industrial Technology (INTI). According to reports, the president of the institution proposed reducing employees’ salaries by 30% in exchange for no layoffs, although The Government would have stated that the number of dismissals was not negotiable.
This same week, INTI’s Human Resources manager, Christian Rasmussen, called on union representatives to inform them of the measure. While the latter were waiting for the meeting, about 500 workers approached the building. Before receiving the union members, Rasmussen He left through his office window and escaped from the property without going through the front door..
“We accompany the growth of Argentine SMEs, promoting the development of the federal industry through innovation and technology transfer,” it is read when entering the national organization’s website. It provides technical assistance to SMEs, develops products or processes, performs analytical and testing services, develops technological solutions and training, among other functions, in the 23 headquarters distributed throughout the country.
In Bariloche, INTI has a team of seven professionals (a biotechnologist, industrial designer, biologist, sociologist, biochemist and a food engineer) that is managed by a central office in Neuquén. There are also specialists in Viedma and Cipolletti.
«The only information we have is through our bosses. The president of INTI said that there will be a 30% reduction in personnel without indicating how, or when, or what type of hiring.. “It generates a lot of uncertainty for us, especially because of work projects: how do you give continuity to projects that are underway? How do you start new projects?” acknowledged one of the workers.
He warned that they constantly receive demands from users: «What do we tell them? If we don’t know if we will be there tomorrow or not. What possibility of continuity do we have in terms of employment sources?«.
Another employee said that “today they can respond to local projects due to the human resources they have, but they also provide technical assistance to the specialized centers in Buenos Aires. «The important thing is that here We provide a local perspective, that is, we know local problems to help SMEs, businesses, and small entrepreneurs. and also to large companies,” they noted.
They described that in addition to technical assistance and training, they develop products, work on the design of factories with the distribution of machinery and also address authorizations, that is, the generation of ordinances to regulate sectors that are not regulated today, such as food, cosmetic and perfumery products, among others.
«If that sector does not have a regulatory ordinance that contemplates production, it is very difficult for these people to progress if they have nowhere to sell. Once these same entrepreneurs manage to regularize their situation from the place of production to putting a product on the market, you provide technical assistance for their competitiveness.«, they added.
They gave as an example the ordinance that regulates the small-scale phytocosmetics sector. At this moment, work is being done on regulations so that those who produce them have authorization at the municipal level. «In this sense, they explained, there are two lines of work. On the one hand, we work with the producers to ensure that their products are of quality, that they carry out tests and receive training, and on the other hand, we work with the municipality to help them generate regulations that are appropriate for this small-scale sector.«.
At the same time, when producers achieve regularization, they will need training, technical assistance and monitoring. «For this reason, we say that over time, the State is present. “The application of our knowledge is not only in providing specific assistance to solve a specific problem, but by knowing the problems that the environment presents to us at a regional level, we can articulate, carry out surveys, analyze these data and make work proposals,” they stated.
They also mentioned that from the INTI, manage financing for research and development of equipment and the management of prototypes for those small companies or organizations that cannot access it with their own resources. Recently, financing was also arranged to obtain a property in the Bariloche Industrial Park so that SMEs have the possibility of purchasing land. “We already have the land, but the resources we had obtained to finance the building, which is also designed, were not lowered,” they said.
INTI also intervenes in legal metrology. «Every time we go to refuel, we see the INTI wafer that proves that a mobile laboratory passed by there and calibrated it so that what needs to be loaded is truly loaded. Same with supermarket scales that must be calibrated by INTI so that when we go to buy they really weigh what they are selling us,” they mentioned and added that in the specific case of Bariloche, they also work with the ski center since A unit from the mechanics center provides services to ensure the safety of the lifting equipment. In Neuquén, for example, pesticides in fruits and vegetables are controlled. The list is endless.
«Today we have ongoing technical assistance committed and it must be given continuity. There are works in progress that are planned for a week, for a month and for the entire year. People come and raise a problem and, we don’t know how far one can commit because you don’t have security,” they admitted.
Already in 2018 there were more than 300 layoffs. With the change in management, these professionals were reinstated. But it was not easy to resume many projects. For this reason, the workers recognize that now «the feeling is a kind of deja vu«.
Days ago, the Municipal Council of Bariloche and the Legislature of Río Negro approved a communication to the Senate of the Nation in defense of the work carried out at the INTI and the request for continuity. «The closure of the interior headquarters with less than 10 people was announced. And the reality is that, throughout the interior, there are few people«, they expressed.
