Mercado Libre 6.000, Grabois 0 – The fifth paw of the cat

Mercado Libre, the unicorn founded in Argentina by Marcos Galperin in 1999, has become an unstoppable job creation machine. In Brazil.

The year ended with 4,900 jobs in the neighboring country. At the end of July, he reached 10,000. And he has just announced that he must take another 6,000 before the end of the year. In other words, it will end in 2021, tripling its workforce in 12 months.

Indeed, due to the pandemic, e-commerce has exploded in Brazil, where Mercado Libre is fighting hand in hand with none other than Amazon for leadership. Brazil is already the country where Mercado Libre charges the most.

He takes it all. From young people who have completed their secondary education to specialists in all kinds of logistics, technology and finance.

In Argentina, the Mercado Libre is also developing, but more modestly. It currently offers 198 positions.

Perhaps it is because Argentina pushes back and despises private companies while Brazil opens its arms to them.

Admittedly, in Brazil, the Mercado Libre also faces an obstacle, but it is difficult for it to resemble the obstacle course in Argentina. We remember the blockages suffered by the Hugo Moyano Truckers union. Or the pressure from La Bancaria de Sergio Palazzo to affiliate those who work at Mercado Pago, the financial company of Mercado Libre, which is not even a bank. Not to mention the Syndicate’s surprise inspections. It is difficult in Brazil to initiate legal action for the sale of government securities before or after an election, as in Argentina.

And what about the anti-business intimidation to which papal piquetero Juan Grabois arrogantly subjected him, who described him as an escapee, a bloodsucker, a loan shark, a rich man, a prebendary winner in the ass? sale, the sale of contraband cell phones and stolen auto parts. , among many other things.

Galperin preferred to leave Argentina for Uruguay after the triumph of Kirchnerism and having encouraged himself to show his political sympathies, to which he is entitled as a citizen.

Grabois, the anti-capitalist holy man, is still there. More and more powerful. Together with their colleagues in the Department of Social Development, they distribute, without competitive tendering, the funds which they themselves give to their own pro-party organizations. There are over 120 billion pesos from the Empower Work plan. But we see that many solid, real and sustainable jobs cannot create. Grabois himself complains about “well-being” and alms. And he calls for the creation of “jobs”. Distributors of foreign goods have been saying the same thing for 20 years and welfare is increasing.

For now, Mercado Libre is winning. But in Brazil. Galperin 6,000, Grabois 0, one might say. “Grabois, tell me how you feel,” the creator of the Argentinian unicorn must be saying right now.