Ecuador Reviews Sectoral Minimum Wages With ILO as Jobs and Skills Continue to Change

Ecuador’s wage system combines a national Unified Basic Wage, known as the SBU, with minimum wage rates set by 21 sectoral commissions. Some sectors also use piece-rate systems, where pay is linked to the amount of work produced.

Jobs and the skills needed to perform them have changed across Ecuador, raising questions about how closely the country's occupational categories and sectoral minimum wage arrangements reflect working life today. Differences between industries and businesses, together with high levels of informal employment, make that assessment more complex.

At the Government of Ecuador's request, an International Labour Organization technical mission visited Quito from 5 to 8 October 2026 to gather information for a review of occupational structures, sectoral minimum wages and economic activity classifications. The visit laid the groundwork for six months of technical work to examine the system and develop options for updating it.

Checking How Wage Rules Match Today's Jobs

Ecuador's wage system combines a national Unified Basic Wage, known as the SBU, with minimum wage rates set by 21 sectoral commissions. Some sectors also use piece-rate systems, where pay is linked to the amount of work produced.

The Constitution recognises the principle of a dignified wage, or salario digno, covering at least the basic needs of workers and their families. Part of the review will examine how sectoral minimum wages relate to both the national SBU and this constitutional principle.

A central question is whether existing occupational and sectoral categories still capture the jobs people do and the skills those jobs require. The review will also consider how regulatory classifications can be better aligned with statistical information, giving those involved in wage discussions a clearer picture of employment across the economy.

Stronger evidence is expected to support future discussions about who sectoral minimum wages cover, how they are implemented and how the arrangements could develop.

Bringing Institutions and Labour Market Evidence Together

During the Quito mission, the ILO met with the Ministry of Labour and Human Development, the National Institute of Statistics and Censuses (INEC), the Ecuadorian Social Security Institute (IESS) and the Central Bank of Ecuador.

Discussions also included employers' and workers' organisations, members of selected sectoral commissions and the Inter-American Development Bank, bringing institutional knowledge and different perspectives into the initial assessment.

The exchanges identified several sources that could support the review, including the ENEMDU labour force survey and administrative and economic data held by the Ministry, INEC, IESS and the Central Bank.

Identifying those sources is an early step. Further work is needed to establish their quality, accessibility and suitability for examining employment, occupations and wages. Understanding what the information can reliably show will be important when assessing a labour market with substantial informal employment and marked differences across sectors.

Preparing Options for the Next Wage Discussions

Over the next six months, ILO technical teams will work closely with the Ecuadorian Ministry to examine how the current system is organised and how employment and occupations are distributed across sectors.

They will analyse wage patterns and assess available information on coverage and compliance, building a clearer understanding of both the rules and their application. The findings will help the teams develop technical options for updating and strengthening the system.

Those options will provide inputs for subsequent discussions with employers' and workers' representatives. The mission itself did not announce new wage rates; its purpose was to establish the technical foundations for the review and the conversations that follow.

Supported by the ILO's Living Wage Programme, the assistance forms part of broader work to strengthen wage-setting based on evidence and promote decent work. For Ecuador, the practical task is to build a system that better reflects its changing labour market and supports fairer, more inclusive outcomes for workers and businesses.