Brazil Eliminates One Million Managers in 10 Years

02/05/2018 - 10h53

To reduce costs and modernize their structures, Brazilian companies have eliminated more than one million managing and supervision positions in the last ten years.

The process gained momentum between 2015 and 2017, when the country faced its worst recession since the 1980s.

Government data show that, in the period, the number of jobs eliminated in these areas surpassed the number of positions created by 538,000.

"With the crisis, the consumer market declined and companies had to take measures to adjust," says Ricardo Basaglia, of Michael Paige consultants."

The economic difficulties faced by multinational companies also led to the elimination of these positions in Brazil – also driven by the high number of mergers and takeovers, when managers who maintain their positions take on more tasks and are responsible for bigger teams.

Another factor that contributed to this scenario was the increase in outsourcing, says Clemente Ganz Lúcio, the director of Dieese, the Inter-Union Department of Statistics and Socio-Economic Studies.

Lúcio says that another point is that companies have been reducing managing positions since the 1990s. "At times of economic turbulence, this process speeds up."

Translated by THOMAS MUELLO

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