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Brazil Leads The Ranking Of Spending On Public Servants And Grants Wide Stability, Surpassing Even Developed Countries. With Criticism And Political Resistance, Experts Debate The Urgent Need For Reforms To Make The System More Efficient.
With The Highest Spending In The World On Public Servants And A System That Offers Broad Stability For Various Positions, Brazil Occupies A Unique And Intriguing Position In The Global Scenario.
While Most Developed Countries Follow A More Flexible Model, Where Job Stability Is A Privilege Restricted To Certain Specific Careers, Such As Judges And Police Officers, Brazil Applies This Protection To A Variety Of Positions, Ranging From Teachers And Nurses To Administrative Roles.
This System Generates Heated Debates And Raises The Question: Does This Model Still Hold Up?
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The Weight Of Stability In Brazil
About 65% Of Brazilian Public Servants Have Stability, A Percentage That Stands In Strong Contrast To Countries Like Sweden, Germany, And The United Kingdom, Where Stability Is Granted Only To A Small Portion Of Employees With “State Power”, That Is, Those In Essential Positions For The Governance Structure.
According To A Survey By Folha De S. Paulo, Approximately 12.1 Million Brazilians Hold Public Positions, The Majority Being Statutory, Governed By The Federal Public Servant Statute (Law 8.112/90), With Strong Protection Against Dismissals And Specific Advantages, Such As Paid Leave And Automatic Promotion.
According To A Survey By The Ministry Of Labor And Employment, While Countries Like France Have A Model Similar To Brazil’s, With Broader Stability Than In Other Places, The Number Of Public Servants With This Benefit Is Still Lower And With Limited Advantages.
In Many Of These Nations, When The Budget Needs Adjustments Or There Are Changes In The Functions Offered By The Government, Dismissing Servants Becomes An Option — A Possibility Almost Nonexistent In Brazil.
The “Outlier” Of Benefits
For Humberto Falcão, A Public Management Expert At The Dom Cabral Foundation, The Brazilian Model Is An “Outlier” When It Comes To Stability In The Public Sector.
He Argues That Protection Could Be Restricted To Some Essential Functions, But Not To All. University Professors, For Example, Are Often Cited As Positions That Could Operate Under A Regime Closer To That Of The Private Sector, Without Absolute Stability.
According To Falcão, This Discussion Hits A Political Factor And The Resistance Of Sectors That Seek To Maintain These Privileges Intact.
In Addition To Stability, Brazilian Public Servants Have Their Own Pension Regimes, Distinct From The INSS, That Ensure More Advantageous Conditions.
This Includes Benefits Such As Extended Leaves And Automatic Career Progressions, Even Without Effective Performance Evaluation, Highlighting A Lack Of Quality Control In Some Functions.
Impasses In The Administrative Reform
The Attempt To Adjust This System Is Not New. In 1998, During The Government Of Fernando Henrique Cardoso, Then-Minister Luiz Carlos Bresser-Pereira Led A Reform Aimed At Limiting Stability To Careers With “State Power”.
However, According To Bresser-Pereira, The Proposals Were Blocked By The “Corporatism” Of Categories That Defended The Maintenance Of Advantages For The Public Sector In General.
This Scenario Persists To This Day, With Projects Like The Regulation Of Performance Evaluation Gathered In Congress For Over Two Decades.
According To A Survey By Folha De S. Paulo, There Is Still A Considerable Obstacle To Dismissing Servants For Poor Performance Or Serious Offenses: The Dismissal Rate Is Extremely Low.
In 2015, For Example, Only 0.1% Of Servants Were Dismissed For Disciplinary Reasons Or For Failing To Perform Their Duties Adequately, As Detailed In The Study “The Federal Government HR Reform”, Conducted By Ana Carla Abrão, Arminio Fraga, And Carlos Ari Sundfeld.
Comparative Structure Of Spending
Spending On Public Servants In Brazil Is Equivalent To 8.9% Of Gross Domestic Product (GDP), A Considerable Figure Compared To Other Countries.
Data From The International Monetary Fund (IMF) Shows That, Among Nine Analyzed Countries, Only South Africa (12.6%) And Sweden (10.4%) Have Higher Ratios.
In Contrast, Latin American Countries Such As Chile (6.8%), Colombia (5.6%), And Mexico (3.8%) Spend Less, Adopting More Flexible Hiring Structures And Fewer Stable Servants.
Although Brazil Has A Lower Number Of Public Servants Compared To The Total Employed Population And Its Population When Compared To Other Countries, The High Spending Reflects The Weight Of The Extended Guarantees Offered To Public Servants.
According To Daniel Duque, From The Public Leadership Center, The Lack Of Flexibility In The Brazilian Public Sector Harms The Possibility Of Redistributing Employees According To The Demands Of Each Area.
“With The Aging Population, We Will Need More Doctors And Nurses And Fewer Teachers,” Duque Points Out, Highlighting The Rigidity In Personnel Management.
The Impacts Of Stability In The Public Service
For Many Experts, The Stability Regime In Brazil Limits Efficiency And Innovation Within The Public Service.
Bruno Carazza, Author Of “The Country Of Privileges”, Argues That Brazil Could Advance With An Administrative Reform That Made Careers Less Bureaucratic And More Aligned With The Real Needs Of The Population.
<p“It Is Essential To Assess The Impact Of Technology, Map The Careers, And Promote Adjustments To Avoid New Unnecessary Hires,” He Affirms.
According To The World Bank, Although Salaries In The Brazilian Public Sector Are High Compared To The National Private Sector, They Are Globally Competitive Only In Certain Areas.
The Highest Earnings Are Concentrated In The Judiciary And The Federal Legislature, While The Lowest Salaries Are In Municipal Positions That Directly Serve The Population, Such As Teachers And Social Workers.
In Municipalities, The Majority Of Servants Earn Less Than R$ 5,000 Per Month, While In The Federal Government, Earnings Can Exceed R$ 15 Thousand.
The Need For Adjustments And Internal Resistance
Some Changes Have Already Been Initiated. In Recent Years, States And Municipalities Have Sought To Reduce The Number Of Positions With Stability, Increasing Temporary And Commissioned Hires, Which Has Decreased Spending On Public Servants.
The Ministry Of Management And Innovation In Public Services Has Also Announced Plans To Review The 250 Salary Tables And The More Than 300 Career Groupings, In Search Of A More Rational Structure That Meets The Needs.
However, The Stability Issue Remains Complex. Gabriela Lotta, A Researcher At The Getúlio Vargas Foundation, Argues That While Some Careers Should Maintain Stability As Protection Against Political Pressures, Others Could Adopt More Flexible Regimes.
She Cites Examples Of Tax Auditors And Environmental Agents Who, Under Strong Government Pressure, Ensured That The Rule Of Law Prevails In Emblematic Cases, Such As Environmental Restrictions During The Bolsonaro Government.
The Discussion About Full Stability In Brazil Is Still In Its Initial Stages, Especially When Compared To Other Nations Where Deep Reforms Have Been Implemented To Increase The Efficiency And Flexibility Of The Public Sector.
However, There Are Questions About The Viability Of A Comprehensive Change In A Context Marked By Political And Corporatist Resistance.
Administrative Reform, A Possible Path?
Brazil Is At An Impasse Regarding The Future Of Stability For Public Servants, And The Prospects For Reform Face Significant Resistance.
With A Robust Public Sector And A Stability Structure That Stands Out Globally, The Country Moves Towards An Essential Debate To Adjust Careers To The Current Demands Of The Population.
Will Brazil Be Able To Restructure The Public Service In A Way That Balances Job Security With Administrative Efficiency And Flexibility? Leave Your Comment!
A estabilidade será necessária até que a sociedade não eleja mais pilantras ****. Uma das primeiras medidas de Bolsonaro foi transferir para o interior do Piauí o gestor ambiental do Ibama que o multou por pesca ilegal. Se não tivesse estabilidade, teria sido demitido, assim como todos os funcionários do Inpe, que fiscalizavam queimadas, teriam o mesmo destino. Também o louco teria arrasado o Ministério da Saúde e as universidades. O lema de pessoas assim é “o que não é por mim, é contra mim”, uma distorção do original bíblico “o que NÃO É CONTRA NÓS, é por nós” (Marcos, 9).
No Brasil o assédio moral é comum nas repartições publicas, tirar a estabilidade só irá cooperar para que a bagunça continue. Aqui em Manaus o que leva o dinheiro público não são os servidores estatutários, o que leva são as terceirizações superfaturadas e sem licitação feitas.