The economic relevance of work has meant that its market has been analyzed from all economic currents. Since the middle of the last century, Marxists, Keynesians, structuralists and, especially, Latin American institutionalists and structuralists, have strongly rejected the hypotheses held by the classics, building with their contributions the approach of segmented labor markets. A robust theoretical framework that integrates systemic visions of the economic process, interpreting reality from institutions, culture, history or the production process to explain the differences in wages and working conditions between workers in the same socioeconomic space and in a world globalized This article aims to present the profound development of this heterodox approach that has allowed us to explain the inequalities that labor markets present and the challenges they face today.