Brazil looks to attract foreign workers

Country to change its immigration law to encourage professionals from abroad join its labour market.

Government aims to attract qualified workers such as engineers, doctors and technology specialists [AFP]

Brazil has announced the country’s plan to change its immigration law to make it easier for foreign workers to enter the country and meet growing demands for labour.

Marcelo Neri, Brazil’s strategic affairs minister, said on Thursday that the government aimed to attract highly qualified professionals such as engineers, doctors and technology specialists.

Neri said the changes would include reducing the bureaucracy involved in obtaining a work visa for Brazil and allowing workers to change jobs without having to request a new visa.

Foreign workers are needed because the current “situation of near-full employment” could jeopardise the country’s future economic growth, he added.

The unemployment rate in November 2013 was 4.6 percent, the lowest level since 2002.

Difficulties hiring

A recent study conducted by the Fundacao Dom Cabral business school found that that 91 percent of the 167 companies surveyed said they face difficulties in hiring qualified technicians, administrators and project managers.

“The lack of qualified manpower has become a major bottleneck in Brazil and there is no sign that this situation will improve in the near or medium term,” the survey’s coordinator, Paulo Resende, told reporters this week.

Neri said the country seeks foreign workers from countries with “linguistic affinities” with Brazil, such as Spain, Portugal, Italy and countries in Latin America.

Last year, Brazil launched a “More Doctors” programme that resulted in the arrival of more than 5,000 Cuban doctors to work in impoverished areas where physicians and medical services are scarce.

Source: AP