Jobs in Cancún and Quintana Roo 2026: IMSS up 6.7%, hotel employment down 3.2%

Formal employment in Quintana Roo grew 6.7% year over year as of September 2026 according to the state government, but formal employment in lodging fell 3.2% year over year in August 2026 according to the Consejo Hotelero (Hotel Council). Both figures can be true at once because they measure different things.

What does each figure say?

• Statewide formal employment: 559,871 workers insured with the IMSS (Mexican Social Security Institute) as of September 2026, about 35,000 more than a year earlier (+6.7%, versus +1.6% nationally). It was released by the state government, does not break out Cancún or sectors, and was not checked against IMSS open data.
• Hotel employment: a 3.2% year-over-year drop in formal employment in the lodging sector in Quintana Roo, in August 2026, according to the Hotel Council.
• Job fairs: Grupo Animal reports that Cancún stopped offering close to 2,200 positions that normally come out at the fall-winter fairs. The municipality suspended the itinerant fairs, which until 2024 offered up to 3,000 vacancies a day. The 2,200 figure is an estimate attributed to local authorities, not an official statistic.
• Unpaid days off: the CROC union says that around 30% of its members in Cancún and Riviera Maya are on unpaid rest days, double the usual 15% in low season.

Why are they not comparable?

1. Coverage: the IMSS figure is statewide and covers all sectors; the hotel figure covers lodging only. The total can rise even if one sector falls, if others grow more. The reports do not say which sectors explain the +6.7%.
2. Period: September versus August 2026.
3. What is measured: registered positions are not the same as the vacancies at a job fair. The reports also do not explain how unpaid days off are reflected in the IMSS count.
4. Source: the state government, the hotel trade body and an outlet citing local authorities.

When could hiring pick up again?

Jesús Pool Mo, of the municipal Labor Commission, called the September and October drop atypical and expects hiring to resume toward mid-December. Hotel occupancy in the Mexican Caribbean was 57.7% from October 17 to 23, 2026 (preliminary figure), and Sedetur projects closing 2026 at 80%.