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Labor Market in Ceará Faces Discrepancy Between Qualification Requirements and New Professional Priorities, While Companies Report Increasing Difficulty in Filling Vacancies and Project Changes in Management and Leadership to Attract Talent in 2026.
The difficulty in hiring has returned to the forefront of concerns for companies in Ceará, according to a survey by Great Place to Work (GPTW) Brazil, which indicates that 65.4% of respondents in the State report obstacles in filling vacancies, in a scenario marked by qualification requirements and competition for more flexible work conditions.
The diagnosis appears in the People Management Trends Report, a survey coordinated by the Director of Communications and Institutional Relations at GPTW Brazil, Daniela Diniz, conducted between November and December 2025, with 1,346 participants in the country, with Ceará accounting for 1.9% of the responses, around 25 respondents.
In Daniela’s view, the pressure is not exclusive to the Ceará market, as companies from different regions are facing a shortage of professionals considered ready to take on roles, especially when the selection process seeks both technical experience and behavioral maturity in the same package.
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Professional Qualification and the Discrepancy in Hiring
Among interviewees in Ceará, “Hiring people with qualifications” emerged as the main challenge of 2025, and this observation helps explain why the difficulty persists even with companies actively searching for candidates and workers moving between opportunities.
The profile of the participants helps contextualize the study’s perspective, as approximately 69% were human resources professionals, while the rest were spread across areas such as administration, commercial, presidency, and marketing, groups that tend to directly feel the effects of vacancies being open for extended periods.
Daniela emphasizes that the desired qualifications are not limited to a higher education degree or technical training, as they also include the so-called “soft skills”, a set of behavioral and socio-emotional skills associated with communication, emotional intelligence, and interpersonal relationships in the professional environment.
“When we talk about communicating well, having critical and analytical thinking, being able to argue, and knowing how to behave. There is currently a shortage in the market for hiring professionals capable of fulfilling these roles,” the director stated, commenting on what has weighed in the talent competition.
At the same time, she assesses that the longer duration of individuals in the labor market reinforces the need for continuous study and frequent updates, while the possibility of constructing multiple career paths in parallel grows, altering career expectations and tenure.
Diário do Nordeste reported that it sought representatives from different sectors to comment on the topic, but noted that the Federation of Industries of the State of Ceará preferred not to respond and that the Chamber of Shop Managers of Fortaleza had not yet replied by the time of publication.
Flexibility, Autonomy, and Multiple Incomes Weigh on the Choice
The survey also indicates that hiring does not solely depend on what companies ask for, as workers’ decisions have directly influenced the speed of filling vacancies, especially when the comparison involves routine, autonomy, schedules, and benefits beyond salary.
According to Daniela Diniz, a pattern observed is that the more flexible a company is, the less difficulty it tends to have in hiring, resulting in greater engagement and typically lower turnover, a relationship that gains weight in sectors with high competition for professionals.
“If, in the past, a high salary was more valuable, today the issue of flexibility, autonomy, and freedom weighs more,” said the director, explaining why rigid models with little room for negotiation have reduced the appeal of some vacancies.
The secretary of organization of the Central Única dos Trabalhadores national, Graça Costa, states that the expansion of alternatives leads people to compare proposals more critically, considering remuneration, workload, flexibility, and benefits before accepting a contract.
“We have a very high precariousness in Brazil. This way that companies have of recruiting workers with a view to creating a contract instead of investing in training so that the worker grows within the company,” questioned the union leader, pointing out tensions in the hiring model.
She also mentions the increasing desire to work independently, alongside narratives that present formal employment as synonymous with entrapment and low growth prospects, a perception that can diminish the attractiveness of the traditional model.
Career mentor and columnist for Diário do Nordeste, Delania Santos, reinforces the idea of misalignment by stating that “the main obstacle lies in the combination of a shortage of technical skills aligned with new demands and the need for companies to revise their value proposition, culture, and leadership model to become more attractive.”
Leadership Development and Organizational Culture on the Radar
In addition to hiring qualified professionals, the report indicates that “Leadership Development/Training” ranks as the second main challenge among respondents from Ceará, at a time when the work environment has become a factor of comparison as relevant as remuneration.
For Daniela, developing leadership is part of the path toward creating a more empathetic and flexible climate, with implications for the ability to engage teams and reduce losses, as managerial behavior tends to influence retention, productivity, and even the success of new hires.
“The company needs to develop leadership and show how it should act to engage more, to make it easier to hire and achieve results through people,” said the director, describing how the theme connects to attracting professionals.
Other points mentioned among the challenges cited by respondents include “Internal Communication” and “Transformation of Organizational Culture”, and for 2026, the priorities reported by professionals in Ceará focus on developing leadership, evolving culture, and strengthening engagement.
In the list of most valued skills in the State, the study mentions:
- Ability to solve complex problems;
- Ability to lead and influence;
- Business knowledge;
- Flexibility and resilience;
- Technical skills.
Hiring Intentions Grow in Support and Operations Areas
Despite the diagnosis of difficulty in hiring, participants from Ceará showed a more positive outlook for 2026, as the State is among five federative units where there was no expression of pessimism regarding business opportunities.
In this context, 69.2% of respondents expressed optimism and 30.8% declared uncertainty, while Ceará stood out in the level of employee engagement, appearing behind only Bahia in a ranking mentioned in the report.
According to the survey, 84.6% of Ceará professionals consider employees “engaged”, while 7.7% classified teams as “highly engaged”, indicators that coexist with the pressure to fill vacancies and reduce operational bottlenecks.
Furthermore, the survey indicates that the highest intention to hire in Ceará for 2026 is concentrated in Support/Operations areas, focused on solving daily problems of companies, such as help desk, technical support, and maintenance, segments that are often sensitive to the lack of manpower.
With companies seeking technical and behavioral qualifications and workers negotiating flexibility, autonomy, and multiple income sources, what concrete changes in recruitment and management models can make vacancies more attractive without lowering performance criteria?
So pra ter uma idéia de como pensam os empresários hoje. O Uber faturou só no Brasil 75 BILHÕES por ano e está brigando com o governo brasileiro pra ter vínculo empregatício com os motoristas concedendo a eles os direitos necessários, visto que a empresa já não tem custo nenhum com combustivel, manutenção, acidentes e outros problemas que saem apenas do bolso do motorista. Com vinculo empregatício a empresa gastaria menos de 10 bilhões por ano e ainda faturaria algo em torno de 65 BILHÕES, mas a ganância dessas empresas sempre fala mais alto
* pra NÃO ter vinculo empregatício
Quer profissional com experiência mais quer pagar salário de auxiliar aí não dá né
Enquanto houver essa cultura na indústria de querer o profissional pronto com currículos superlativos sem nenhum custo,nada irá mudar. Os gestores exigem altas habilidades e capacidades sem darem nenhuma contrapartida ou benefício que atraia os profissionais. No meu ramo exigem que as pessoas tenham alto nível de proficiência com bagagem educacional sem pensarem que para ter isso,é necessário gastar muitos recursos como tempo,dinheiro e disponibilidade para trr alto nível. O governo também têm culpa ao impôr altos custos para contratação através de impostos e taxas.