Unemployment in western Panama continues to rise. This reality is faced daily by thousands of professionals in Chiriqu\u00ed who are hoping for the arrival of companies and projects that can open doors to the talent available in the province.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
According to data from the Data Observatory of the Faculty of Economics at the Autonomous University of Chiriqu\u00ed, the province has experienced sustained migration between 2013 and 2023. A total of 114,095 residents of Chiriqu\u00ed have left the region in search of job opportunities. In percentage terms, more than 11% of the province\u2019s population has migrated.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
This situation is further compounded by recent figures that highlight the severity of the issue. According to the Labor Market Survey as of September 2025 by the National Institute of Statistics and Census (INEC), analyzed by business consultant Ren\u00e9 Quevedo, the province of Chiriqu\u00ed lost 36,357 jobs in 2025, of which 35% were formal positions. The impact has been most significant in key sectors such as agriculture, retail trade, and hotels and restaurants.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Amid this context, one figure reveals both the urgency and the hope of thousands of families: 20,000 r\u00e9sum\u00e9s have been submitted through the employment portal of the Puerto Bar\u00fa Project in David, making this private investment one of the most tangible opportunities for thousands of people in Chiriqu\u00ed to access formal employment without leaving their province.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The surge in job applications not only confirms the strong interest in what is considered the largest logistics project in the history of the province\u2014representing an investment of more than USD 250 million\u2014but also clearly exposes the shortage of opportunities for professionals. Behind each r\u00e9sum\u00e9 lies a pending decision: to stay and invest in Chiriqu\u00ed or to become part of a growing migration statistic.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
For Felipe Vinicio Rodr\u00edguez, a Chiriqu\u00ed-based entrepreneur and former president of the Chiriqu\u00ed Chamber of Commerce and Industries, the province is facing a reality that can no longer wait: unemployment has already exceeded 11%, placing increasing pressure on a young population that demands real opportunities in order to avoid migration.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cIt is necessary to respect the country\u2019s legal certainty, especially when it comes to projects that have complied with technical processes and have been evaluated and approved by the relevant authorities,\u201d Rodr\u00edguez stated.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Strategic projects such as Puerto Bar\u00fa in David are no longer an option\u2014they are a national necessity. They represent a concrete alternative that would not only stimulate the economy but also strengthen the connectivity of western Panama with the country\u2019s broader logistics development.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Data:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n As of October 2024, Chiriqu\u00ed ranked among the provinces with the highest unemployment rates in the country, reaching 11.9%, second only to Veraguas (12.3%) and Panama (12.1%).<\/p>\n\n\n\n In just five months since the start of its preliminary phase, Puerto Bar\u00fa in David has generated 89 direct jobs and 31 indirect jobs. The workforce is 100% local from the province of Chiriqu\u00ed, and during the construction phase, the project is expected to generate approximately 1,200 jobs.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Unemployment in western Panama continues to rise. This reality is faced daily by thousands of professionals in Chiriqu\u00ed who are hoping for the arrival of companies and projects that can open doors to the talent available in the province. According to data from the Data Observatory of the Faculty of Economics at the Autonomous University…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":7012,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_kad_blocks_custom_css":"","_kad_blocks_head_custom_js":"","_kad_blocks_body_custom_js":"","_kad_blocks_footer_custom_js":"","_kadence_starter_templates_imported_post":false,"_kad_post_transparent":"","_kad_post_title":"","_kad_post_layout":"","_kad_post_sidebar_id":"","_kad_post_content_style":"","_kad_post_vertical_padding":"","_kad_post_feature":"","_kad_post_feature_position":"","_kad_post_header":false,"_kad_post_footer":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[24],"tags":[124,130,175,148],"class_list":["post-7014","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","tag-chiriqui-3","tag-davidchiriqui-2","tag-jobspanama","tag-panama-2"],"acf":[],"taxonomy_info":{"category":[{"value":24,"label":"News"}],"post_tag":[{"value":124,"label":"chiriqui"},{"value":130,"label":"davidchiriqui"},{"value":175,"label":"jobspanama"},{"value":148,"label":"panama"}]},"featured_image_src_large":["https:\/\/puertobaru.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/DSC02346-1024x683.jpg",1024,683,true],"author_info":{"display_name":"Puerto Bar\u00fa","author_link":"https:\/\/puertobaru.com\/en\/author\/puertobaru\/"},"comment_info":"","category_info":[{"term_id":24,"name":"News","slug":"news","term_group":0,"term_taxonomy_id":24,"taxonomy":"category","description":"","parent":0,"count":7,"filter":"raw","cat_ID":24,"category_count":7,"category_description":"","cat_name":"News","category_nicename":"news","category_parent":0}],"tag_info":[{"term_id":124,"name":"chiriqui","slug":"chiriqui-3","term_group":0,"term_taxonomy_id":124,"taxonomy":"post_tag","description":"","parent":0,"count":11,"filter":"raw"},{"term_id":130,"name":"davidchiriqui","slug":"davidchiriqui-2","term_group":0,"term_taxonomy_id":130,"taxonomy":"post_tag","description":"","parent":0,"count":10,"filter":"raw"},{"term_id":175,"name":"jobspanama","slug":"jobspanama","term_group":0,"term_taxonomy_id":175,"taxonomy":"post_tag","description":"","parent":0,"count":1,"filter":"raw"},{"term_id":148,"name":"panama","slug":"panama-2","term_group":0,"term_taxonomy_id":148,"taxonomy":"post_tag","description":"","parent":0,"count":5,"filter":"raw"}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/puertobaru.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7014","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/puertobaru.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/puertobaru.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/puertobaru.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/puertobaru.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=7014"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/puertobaru.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7014\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":7015,"href":"https:\/\/puertobaru.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7014\/revisions\/7015"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/puertobaru.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/7012"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/puertobaru.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=7014"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/puertobaru.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=7014"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/puertobaru.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=7014"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}