Crisis In Macaé: 630 Businesses Closed From January To May 2017

Merchants Suffer From The Crisis In Macaé And Are Forced To Lay Off And Close Doors Due To Lack Of Movement.

The crisis in Macaé has not only affected offshore companies, it has also reached micro-enterprises and freelancers in a kind of ripple effect. Commercial establishments in Macaé are experiencing unfortunate impacts due to the economic setback in the city, which seems to have no end. According to the Municipal Employees Union, an astonishing 630 businesses have closed in recent months, almost 6 stores every week! Incredible, right?

The main commercial avenues in the city of Macaé are Rui Barbosa and Teixeira de Gouveia Avenues, but even in these strategic locations, entrepreneurs have had to terminate their business points due to insufficient sales volume and rents becoming increasingly expensive.

For those passing by today, it is truly a very sad scene to see, with many stores closed or empty due to lack of movement. Even in the Aloha, Fashion, and Elias Agostinho malls, which concentrated a good portion of sales from the boardwalk, now live a desolate scenario.

Naturally, this lack of movement in commerce hurts a lot in the pocket. Being forced to close due to capital retention, businesses are being compelled to lay off employees, further increasing unemployment.

Mariáh Silva, who is the president of the Employees and Commerce Union of Macaé, stated that it is impossible to postpone how many businesses will close in 2017. If this crisis persists for much longer, more stores will close and so on.

Frederico Pessoa, who owns a beauty salon in the city, said that he used to have a monthly revenue of over R$30,000.00, now that profit is 50% lower and that unfortunately, he will have to lay off some of his employees to try to keep the business running and wait to see if this crisis passes.

According to CAGED, which is associated with the Ministry of Labor, in March Macaé eliminated 442 formal jobs in the commercial sector. In the service provision sector, 2,251 professionals were laid off and 1,370 returned with salaries well below the wage ceiling.

If we compare the first quarter of 2015 and March 2017, this calculation shows that about 59,211 employees were laid off in the city.

The situation is concerning, let’s wait for the developments of the coming months, as our neighbor São João da Barra is already taking the reins of the situation and is fully operational at its Porto do Açú, waiting for logistical movements in the city.

Join the group São João da Barra, Porto do Açú, Economy and Jobs.