There's more than just coffee in Brazil
As Sam Burne James writes, not only is Brazil likely to overtake the UK as the sixth largest economy, potential areas of growth abound
While more famous for its football, recently Brazil has found something else it is better at than the UK: economic growth. In 2011, it overtook the UK as the world’s sixth largest economy.
This pace of growth is matched in the country’s recruitment industry, which Fred Ronflard, managing director of Robert Walters Brazil, describes as “fast and unpredictable”, although “still immature”. Ronflard adds: “With some exceptions, all top executive search firms and major listed recruitment companies are present today in Brazil.”
For all this rapid progress, the autumn has been a time of slowdown, as Paulo Pontes, director general of Michael Page International in Brazil, explains: “The market was extremely active until September; candidates were facing a market with several opportunities and clients needing to pay more to hire good people.
“Since October, the global crisis has been causing a slowdown in the recruitment market. Clients are putting their positions on hold and being more cautious about starting new projects. But the actual scenario still is much better than in Europe and North America.”
Brazil nonetheless lags behind Europe and North America in education, which Ronflard sees reflected in a candidate-driven market: “The country’s education system is not yet ’producing’ enough professionals, therefore the happy few are developing fast-growing careers towards management positions with minimal management experience and skills.”
Alexia Franco, director of Hays Brazil, sees this problem as particularly acute across technical sectors, singling one out: “When it comes to the oil & gas industry, the demand for talented professionals is so high now that the number of professionals graduating with the relevant qualifications is just not enough.”
Franco continues: “Because of the nature of the industry, oil & gas organisations are more open to bringing in talent from overseas - most of the companies are multinationals with lots of experience in other countries and expanding investments in Brazil.”
The oil & gas sector is by no means the only one experiencing rapid growth, with Franco adding real estate, research & development, energy, entertainment, FMCGs and infrastructure as exhibiting great potential.
A spokesperson for Morson International Brazil adds: “Perhaps the biggest area of scope for British workers in Brazil comes within disciplines like engineering, environmental management, qualified consultants and IT professionals.” This is alongside oil & gas, and areas allied to the major national telecoms infrastructure project due to start ahead of the Rio de Janeiro 2016 Olympic Games.
Not that such import of skills is easy, though, with limits on the number of foreign workers in place in some firms, according to Hays’ Franco.
These, however, are cutting off the supply of top management talent, suggests Ronflard, saying: “A way to balance this shortage and facilitate the current need for talent … would be to open the frontiers of Brazil a bit more to attract high-profile managers.
“Brazil remains a very difficult country for foreigners to access - in proportion, there are eight times fewer foreigners with a work permit in Brazil than in the US.”
The Morson spokesperson advises: “Any organisation entering the region needs to have strong localisation policies in order to help make the transition much easier.”
However, the spokesperson adds that restrictions on the flow of talent into the country may already be lifting, with a 30% rise in foreign workers entering the country in 2010.
It remains to be seen how this figure changes in the near future, but if Brazilian economic trends are anything to go by, it should be dramatic, one way or another.
Key Indicators
- Brazil’s 2011 GDP should reach $2.44tr (£1.57tr) in 2011, overtaking the UK’s $2.43 trillion to become the world’s sixth largest economy
- There was a 30% rise in the number of foreigners taking jobs in Brazil in 2010, according to Forbes
- Brazilian income tax rates start at 7.5%, up to a maximum of 27.5%
- Sao Paolo is the world’s sixth largest and 10th richest city
- The main potential areas of growth in Brazil are real estate, oil & gas, research & development, energy, entertainment, FMCG and infrastructure
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