Observation (CEACR) - adopted 2014, published 104th ILC session (2015)

Employment Policy Convention, 1964 (No. 122) - Brazil (Ratification: 1969)

Articles 1 and 2 of the Convention. Implementation of an active employment policy in the framework of a coordinated economic and social policy. The Government emphasizes in its report that the coordination of policies in different areas resulted in the development of a productive environment focused on the generation of jobs, which was translated into social inclusion through work, the growth of the middle class in Brazil, consumption, credit and supply, together with the redistribution of income and poverty reduction. The Committee also notes that in 2011 the Programme to Accelerate Growth (PAC) entered its second phase, based on the same strategic thinking, with greater resources and alliances with states and municipal authorities for the implementation of structural works to improve the quality of life in cities. Also in 2011, the Government launched the plan “Brasil Maior”, which is the federal Government’s industrial, technological and external trade policy. The challenge of the plan is to maintain inclusive economic growth in an adverse economic context and to generate a structural change in the integration of the country into the global economy. The plan focuses on the innovation and intensification of industrial production, focusing on sustained improvements in labour productivity. The Government maintains that, when aggregate demand falls, employment generation suffers. Sales forecasts for enterprises, taking the recent past as a reference, determine the level of employment related to each enterprise. According to the Government, consumption determines the level of employment, as recruitment is undertaken based on the operation of the market. According to the data published by the Economic Commission for Latin American and the Caribbean (ECLAC), the labour market continued its favourable trend and in 2013 the annual average unemployment rate was 5.4 per cent, the lowest level since 2002. ECLAC also emphasized the creation of 1.1 million new jobs in the formal economy. Moreover, the reduction in the unemployment rate continued during the first four months of 2014, with 5 per cent of the active population being unemployed (compared with 5.6 per cent during the same period in 2013). The Committee invites the Government to continue providing detailed information on the policies implemented and the measures adopted to achieve the objectives of the Convention. The Committee also invites the Government to continue providing information on the impact of the Programme to Accelerate Growth and the “Brasil Maior” plan in promoting productive employment. Please also provide information on the measures adopted to increase the labour market participation of socially vulnerable groups, such as young persons, older workers, women jobseekers, migrant workers, ethnic minorities and persons with disabilities, including how the unemployment rate for these groups is compared to that of the national unemployment rate.

Education and vocational training policies. Youth employment. The Committee notes the information provided by the Government in its 2013 report on the Human Resources Development Convention, 1975 (No. 142), on the launching of the National Programme for Access to Technical Education and Employment (PRONATEC/Act No. 12513 of 2011) with a view to extending the supply of vocational and technological education courses. The Government indicates that as a result of the approval of PRONATEC changes have been made in the National Skills Plan (PNQ). The Government emphasizes that improving the skills of workers is a critical factor in the development of the country and has a direct impact on productivity and the income of workers. During the period 2004–12, there was an increase in the number of higher skilled workers, as the number of workers with fewer than eight years of education fell. The Government also refers to the programme “Projovem Trabalhador – Juventude Cidadã” of the Ministry of Labour and Employment, launched in 2008, which seeks to prepare young persons aged between 18 and 29 years for the labour market. The Committee requests the Government to continue providing information on the impact of PRONATEC, PNQ and the programme “Projovem Trabalhador – Juventude Cidadã”, and other initiatives adopted to offer workers the opportunity to receive the necessary training so that they can find suitable jobs and use their skills and endowments in such jobs. The Committee once again invites the Government to provide information on the consultations held with the social partners in the context of education and training policies and on their relation to employment opportunities.