This study examines the emerging model of faculty hiring at the Universidad Autónoma Metropolitana (UAM) [1], which, although not formally classified as outsourcing, presents similar mechanisms that undermine employment stability [2]. Between 2018 and 2024, the number of tenured professors decreased from 3,088 to 2,771, while temporary faculty appointments increased significantly, peaking at 3,285 in 2023 before declining to 2,636 in 2024. A qualitative methodology was applied, based on documentary and comparative analysis. The sources included the UAM’s Statute of Academic Personnel, institutional reports (2018–2024), public transparency databases, and direct observations of faculty workloads. Findings reveal that over 60% of faculty members in some academic divisions are hired by the course under quarterly contracts, with no renewal guarantees, earning an average of 260 to 340 Mexican pesos per teaching hour per week, and with limited access to collegial governance bodies. Part-time temporary instructors may earn up to 12,000 pesos per month [3], compared to net monthly incomes exceeding 80,000 pesos for full-time tenured professors with seniority. This form of academic precarization is not unique to Mexico; similar employment conditions have been identified in other higher education institutions across Latin America and in other international contexts. The current hiring model reproduces adverse effects associated with outsourcing, such as high turnover, low morale, and lack of academic continuity. In the case of UAM, it threatens to erode the professor-researcher model that has shaped its educational and scientific tradition over the past 50 years. It is proposed that university labor policies be redesigned to promote sustainable academic careers, ensure collegial participation, and safeguard faculty labor rights, in accordance with principles of equity and educational quality that should guide public universities.

References:
[1] Universidad Autónoma Metropolitana. Retrieved from www.uam.mx
[2] A. Gallardo and K. Quintanar, “La flexibilidad del trabajo académico: problemática en la universidad pública,” Administración y Organizaciones, pp. 55-65, 2009.
[3] C. Mena, Profesores temporales de la UAM insisten en basificación, Periódico La Jornada, 9 April, 2025. Retrieved from https://www.jornada.com.mx/2025/04/09/politica/017n3pol

Keywords: Academic hiring, university outsourcing, faculty precarization, higher education, UAM, public policy.