Unemployment in the western region of Panama continues to gain ground, this reality is faced daily by thousands of professional Chiricans who long for the arrival of companies or works that open doors to the work talent that exists in the province.
And, according to figures from the Data observatory of the Faculty of Economics of the Autonomous University of Chiriquí, This province registers sustained migration between 2013 and 2023. A total of 114,095 Chiricans have left the territory in search of job opportunities. In numbers, Chiriquí has seen more than 11% of its population leave.
Added to this panorama is a recent piece of information that further aggravates the situation. According to the Labor Market Survey as of September 2025 National Institute of Statistics and Census (INEC), analyzed by business consultant René Quevedo, the province of Chiriquí lost 36,357 jobs in 2025of which 35% were formal, mainly impacting key sectors such as agriculture, retail trade, and hotels and restaurants.
In the midst of this context, a figure reveals the level of urgency and, at the same time, the hope of thousands of families: 20 thousand resumes have been received through the employment portal of the Puerto Barú Project in Davidturning this private investment into one of the main real opportunities for thousands of Chiricans to access a formal job without leaving their province.
The avalanche of applications for vacancies not only confirms the interest in the largest logistics project in the history of the province of Chiriquí, whose investment exceeds 250 million dollars, but also exposes, without filters, the shortage of opportunities for professionals. Behind each resume there is a pending decision: stay and bet on Chiriquí or be part of a statistic that continues to grow.
For Felipe Vinicio Rodrígueza Chirican businessman and former president of the Chiriquí Chamber of Commerce and Industries, the province faces a reality that cannot continue to wait: a unemployment that already exceeds 11% and increasing pressure on a young population that demands real opportunities so as not to be forced to migrate.
“It is necessary to respect the legal security of the country, especially when it comes to projects that have complied with the technical processes and have been evaluated and approved by the corresponding authorities.“, he indicated Rodriguez.
Strategic projects such as Puerto Barú in David cease to be an option and become a country necessity, since they represent a concrete alternative that would not only boost the economy, but would also strengthen the connectivity of the West with national logistics development.
Data:
By October 2024, Chiriquí was among the provinces with the highest unemployment in the country, reaching 11.9%, only behind Veraguas (12.3%) and Panama (12.1%).
In just five months after starting the preliminary phase, Puerto Barú in David has managed to provide 89 direct and 31 indirect jobs.
The workforce is 100% from the province of Chiriquí, it is contemplated that 1,200 jobs will be generated in its construction phase.
