College students are postponing graduation in order to drag out their internship contracts and avoid joining the throng of 13 million unemployed people in Brazil.
Pierre Luz de Souza, 25, was supposed to graduate from Universidade Federal de Pelotas (Pelotas Federal University) with a major in environmental engineering last December. He postponed his graduation to late 2019 in order to take an internship offer.
Students are extending their graduation dates by delaying mandatory classes or their capstone project or senior thesis.
"I saw classmate struggling because of their lack of experience and I don't want to go through that," says Souza.
Before the recession, many students preferred to go after a full-time job, which usually pays better. But Souza's strategy is becoming more common, says Naercio Menezes, professor of public policy at Insper and University of São Paulo.
"I have been teaching for many years and delaying graduation was not something people would consider."
The unemployment rate among people between 18 and 24 was 26,6 percent in the second quarter, slightly below the 27.3 percent registered in the same period last year. But it is considerably higher than the national average of 12.4 percent, according to IBGE (Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics).
At FGV EASP, one of the most prestigious business schools in São Paulo, the number of students who registered for internship credits increased 10% in the spring semester, comparing to the same period last year.
Translated by NATASHA MADOV