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Increasing Pressure for Skilled Workers Exposes Structural Challenge of the Mining Industry, Which Will Need to Accelerate Professional Training and Large-Scale Requalification to Sustain Logistics, Construction, Maintenance and Industrial Operation in the Coming Years, According to Projections from the Industrial Labor Map.
Minas Gerais will have to qualify nearly 1.6 million professionals between 2025 and 2027 to meet the demand of the industry and occupations related to industrial activity in other sectors of the economy.
Of this total, 257.3 thousand correspond to the initial training of new workers, while 1.3 million refer to updating the skills of people who are already employed.
The projection, gathered in the Industrial Labor Map 2025-2027, exposes a simultaneous challenge for the state: to increase the entry of new professionals, accelerate the requalification of those already in the market, and avoid that strategic areas lose momentum due to lack of prepared labor.
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Areas of the Industry with Highest Demand for Workers in Minas Gerais
The projected demand in Minas is not concentrated in a single segment and is not restricted to the traditional factory environment.
According to the survey, Logistics and Transportation lead with 361.2 thousand professionals, followed by Construction, with 205.5 thousand, Industrial Operation, with 134.2 thousand, Maintenance and Repair, with 129.7 thousand, and Metallurgy, with 126.6 thousand.
The outline shows that the scarcity of qualification tends to affect everything from the circulation of goods to the execution of works, the productive routine, and the conservation of machines and equipment.
In logistics, the study points to demand for roles such as production control technicians, truck drivers, inventory clerks, and warehouse workers.
In practice, this means pressure on a stage that supports the entire industrial chain, from receiving raw materials to distributing production.
When this link fails, the effect tends to appear over the longer term, resulting in higher costs and a reduced ability of companies to respond to market fluctuations.
In construction, the estimate of 205.5 thousand professionals includes occupations related to earthmoving machine operation, support in civil works, and masonry and foundation work.
In industrial operation, the potential deficit involves everything from production line feeders to packaging workers, labeling, loading and unloading, as well as management positions.
The analysis indicates that the pressure does not fall only on highly specialized roles, but also on essential positions to keep activities running regularly.
The situation is similar in maintenance and metallurgy, areas where technical knowledge must keep pace with increasingly complex equipment, processes, and regulatory requirements.
For maintenance and repair, the Map mentions a need for automotive mechanics, operational conservation workers, and maintenance electricians.
In metallurgy, roles include welders, machine operators, and professionals in boiler making and metalworking, roles that require consistent training and continuous updating.
Requalification of Already Employed Workers Concentrates Greater Challenge
The most significant data from the survey is not in the creation of new vacancies, but in the need to recycle skills.
Of the nearly 1.6 million professionals projected for Minas Gerais, 1.3 million are already in the job market and will need training and development to continue meeting the requirements of the roles they perform.
This shifts the discussion from simply increasing the offer of courses to a broader problem, involving the speed of updates, adherence to content, and the ability to train workers at a scale compatible with industry transformation.
According to FIEMG, this updating involves three central dimensions: technical skills related to the use of machines, equipment, and software.
Behavioral competencies such as critical thinking, emotional intelligence, creativity, and innovation.
Additionally, content related to health and safety at work, which is essential for increasingly complex industrial environments.
The combination of these fronts helps to explain why the challenge cannot be treated merely as a lack of vacancies in vocational courses.
In many cases, the problem lies in quickly adapting existing profiles to more demanding and connected production processes.
Scarcity of Qualified Labor Already Affects Competitiveness of the Industry
The mining scenario fits into a broader problem of the Brazilian industry.
In a statement released by CNI in February 2026, the entity stated that the lack of qualified labor has consolidated as one of the main barriers to the sector.
According to the confederation, the mention of the scarcity of skilled professionals in the Industrial Survey remained around 5% between 2015 and 2020.
The figure reached 23.3% in the second quarter of 2025, the highest percentage in the series.
The issue ranked fourth among the main obstacles faced by the Brazilian industry.
Among small companies, the percentage reached 28.4%.
This context helps to gauge why the debate on qualification has ceased to be just a professional training agenda and has begun to directly affect competitiveness.
With the job market more pressured, companies compete for workers with specific experience, increase spending on training, and face greater difficulty in filling critical positions.
The result is an environment where productive expansion, productivity gains, and technology adoption may lose traction precisely due to a lack of prepared professionals.
How the Industrial Labor Map Projects Demand for Professionals
National Industry Observatory reports that the Industrial Labor Map uses projections of formal employment by professional area and sector.
The estimates are based on time series models and microdata from the labor market.
The methodology considers extractive industry, manufacturing industry, construction, energy, and sanitation, as well as correlated occupations in other sectors.
These include services, agriculture, and public administration.
The calculation also includes job creation, the replacement of workers leaving the formal market, and the stock of already trained professionals who could fill these positions.
In terms of training and development, the estimate is based on primary research with industry entrepreneurs.
They reported the percentage of workers trained annually within companies.
This approach expands the reach of the survey and helps explain why requalification numbers are much higher than those for initial training.
It is not just about filling new positions but also keeping up with technological and organizational changes that alter the content of existing occupations.
Demand for Professional Qualification Also Grows Across Brazil
In the 2025-2027 edition of the study, the Observatory estimates that Brazil will need to train 14 million workers in strategic areas for the industry.
Of this total, 2.2 million relate to initial training for new vacancies and replacements, while 11.8 million refer to training and development.
Nationally, the areas with the highest need for professional training are Logistics and Transportation, Construction, Administrative Services, Metallurgy, and Maintenance and Repair.
This section reinforces that Minas Gerais is part of a structural trend of the Brazilian industry, and not a localized mismatch.
Commenting on the projection for the state, the regional director of Senai-MG and regional superintendent of Sesi-MG, Christiano Leal, stated that there will be “significant demand for skilled professionals.”
He added that it will be essential to invest both in the training of new workers and in the requalification of those already employed.
The assessment summarizes the pressure on the vocational education system, on companies, and on the mining job market itself.
Sectors such as logistics, construction, and metallurgy concentrate a significant part of the state’s economic activity and productive infrastructure.
In this scenario, the speed of professional training and updating is likely to become a decisive factor in sustaining the expansion of the industry in the state.
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