Projection for the job market in 2022 is positive, with an increase in formal vacancies

Despite still representing more than half of jobs in Brazil, informal work has been losing positions over the past few months, according to data released by the Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics (IBGE).

Currently, informality represents 54% of the employed population in the country, however, it came to represent more than 70% of jobs at the beginning of 2021.

Specialists interviewed by CNN explain that the projection for 2022 is positive, with an increase in formal vacancies in the labor market.

This downward trend in informality is related to the gradual resumption of formal trade, despite the expected rise in interest rates and inflation.

In addition, the growth of services to families and the promising moment for information technology, areas that had expansion due to the health crisis, accelerated changes in habits and should remain in the post-pandemic period, according to specialists.

It is worth mentioning that the projection is positive despite the year with presidential elections, a period that tends to bring some economic instability.

For researchers, the advancement of immunization against Covid-19 remains fundamental for the creation of new formal vacancies over the coming months.

Sectors such as health and public and private education, which suffer less from high interest rates and economic cycles, should also continue to grow gradually.

According to IBGE, in the quarter ended in October, around 93.9 million Brazilians were employed. The number represents an increase of 3.2 million jobs compared to the previous quarter, which ended in July.

Among the employed population, 33.9 million workers have a formal contract – an increase of 4.1% compared to the previous quarter.

Meanwhile, the rest of the population is working informally. Although the group still represents around 54% of the employed population, the number of informal workers was much higher months ago.

IBGE data show that, in the first quarter of 2021, informality came to represent more than 70% of the jobs created in Brazil.

This group is composed of private sector employees without a formal contract, domestic workers without a formal contract, self-employed persons or employers without a CNPJ.

“This reduction in informality has to do with the economic recovery. We noticed an increase in formal jobs in the economy, such as jobs in industry and commerce. This type of job brings greater stability to the employee”, says Joelson Sampaio, economist at Fundação Getúlio Vargas (FGV).

The specialist highlights, however, that informality in the country is still very representative. “We are far from reversing the occupation given by this group. A good part of the vacancies that appear in the market are still informal”.

The economist at Ibmec Rio de Janeiro, Christiano Arrigoni, explains that formal jobs are more beneficial both for the Brazilian economy and for the employee himself, as informal workers receive less and are not stable.

“The formal employee can claim all labor rights, such as vacation and 13th. In contrast, the informal lives in an unstable arrangement. It doesn’t have the same safeguards as the formal ones, informal jobs are more precarious. In the ideal world, we would need to have the largest possible number of people working formally, and a minority informally,” concluded Christiano.