Brazil will need 9.6 million workers in industrial occupations by 2025

RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – By 2025, Brazil will need to qualify 9.6 million people in industrial occupations, of which 2 million in initial training – to replace inactive people and fill new vacancies – and 7.6 million in continued training for workers who need to update their skills. It means that 79% of the training needs in the next four years will be in upgrading.

That is the conclusion of the Industrial Labor Map 2022-2025, conducted by the National Observatory of Industry, to identify future demands for labor and to guide professional training in the country’s industrial base.

This demand will come mainly from using new technologies and changes in the production chain. Therefore, it will be necessary to invest in improvement and requalification to update the professionals.

ALMOST 500,000 VACANCIES BY 2025

In four years, 497,000 new formal vacancies should be created in industrial occupations, jumping from 12.3 million to 12.8 million formal jobs. These occupations require knowledge related to industrial production but are present in other sectors of the economy. The demand for workers by qualification level and the occupations with vacancies will be as follows:

QUALIFICATION (LESS THAN 200 HOURS): 208,000 VACANCIES

• Drivers of general cargo vehicles: 92,197
• Production line feeders: 45,915
• Butchers and related trades: 45,315
• Agricultural mechanization workers: 20,481
• Material Handling Equipment Operators: 13,242

QUALIFICATION (MORE THAN 200 HOURS): 64,000 VACANCIES

• Motor vehicle maintenance mechanics: 27,918
• Bakers, confectioners, and related trades 12,459
• Installers and repairers of electric, telephone, and data communication lines and cables: 4,711
• Clothing sewing machine operators: 4,547
• Equipment operators in the production of bread, pasta, sweets, chocolates, and chocolate products: 4,458

TECHNICIAN: 136,000 VACANCIES

• Transport logistics specialists: 16,834
• Production control technicians: 12,357
• Production planning and control technicians: 12,270
• Mechanical Technicians in the maintenance of machines, systems, and instruments: 9,417
• Road Transport Technicians: 6,565

HIGHER EDUCATION: 90,000 VACANCIES

• Professionals in planning, programming, and logistics controls: 17,156
• Information technology analysts: 16,987
• Commercialization, marketing, and communication managers: 5,847
• Information technology managers: 5,833
• Visual artists, industrial designers, and conservators-restorers of cultural assets: 4,816

Although skilled-level occupations account for 74% of industrial employment, the study highlights a tendency for technical and higher-level occupations to grow.

That is due to organizational and technological changes, which make companies seek professionals with a higher level of education who can perform tasks and solve more complex problems.

AREAS WITH THE HIGHEST DEMAND FOR TRAINING

The areas with the highest demand for training are Transversal, Metalworking, Construction, Logistics and Transportation, and Food and Beverage. Transversal occupations allow the professional to work in different areas, such as Occupational Safety technicians, Research and Development Support technicians, and Metrology professionals.

The projection of demand for training for the coming years shows the industrial occupations that will need the most professionals until 2025. See below the number of vacancies forecast for each area.

AREAS WITH THE HIGHEST DEMAND IN INITIAL TRAINING:

• Transversal: 411,149
• Construction: 346,145
• Metalworking: 231,619
• Logistics and transportation: 194,898
• Food and beverage: 181,117
• Textile and Apparel: 137,996
• Automotive: 92,004
• Information Technology: 76,656
• Electro-electronics: 55,747
• Leather and footwear: 48,868

AREAS WITH THE GREATEST DEMAND IN CONTINUING EDUCATION

• Transversal: 1,393,283
• Metalworking: 1,300,675
• Logistics and transportation: 1,095,765
• Construction: 780,504
• Food and beverage: 583,685
• Textile and Apparel: 509,354
• Information Technology: 397,836
• Electrical and electronics: 248,790
• Management: 226,176
• Automotive: 208,317

The study also shows the occupations with the highest demand for training grouped by qualification level: higher, technical, qualification with more than 200 hours, and qualification with less than 200 hours.

Higher education aims to form a bachelor or graduate. They are of long duration, with a minimum course load of 2,400 hours, and some of them reach 7,200 hours.

• Information technology analysts: 35,773 (places in initial training) and 228,387 (places in further training)
• Civil engineers and the like: 10,699 (initial training) and 34,322 (further training)
• Visual artists, industrial designers, and cultural asset restorers: 10,185 (initial training) and 21,807 (further training)
• Marketing, marketing, and communication managers: 9,107 (initial training) and 59,951 (further training)
• Administrative, financial, risk, and related managers: 8,333 (initial training) and 40,770 (further training)

Technicians – between 800 hours and 1,200 hours (about one year and six months) for students enrolled in or graduated from high school.

• Production control technicians: 27,284 (initial training) and 156,212 (further training)
• Production planning and control technicians: 24,413 (initial training) and 105,164 (further training)
• Electronics technicians: 22,108 (initial training) and 62,327 (advanced training).
• Systems and applications development technicians: 15,762 (initial training) and 58,215 (advanced training)
• Computer operation and monitoring technicians: 15,180 (initial training) and 53,702 (further training)

A qualification with more than 200 hours aims at young people and professionals seeking to develop new professional skills and abilities to enter an occupation. These courses do not demand a specific level of schooling.

• Motor vehicle maintenance mechanics: 54,742 (initial training) and 78,510 (improvement)
• Clothing sewing machine operators: 50,828 (initial training) and 206,687 (advanced training)
• Industrial machine maintenance mechanics: 40,062 (initial training) and 133,874 (advanced training)
• Bakers, confectioners, and related trades: 34,547 (initial training) and 75,761 (advanced training)
• Electrical installation workers: 20,080 (initial training) and 54,114 (further training)

Qualification with less than 200 hours aims the same as qualification with more than 200 hours.

• Production line feeders: 226,791 (initial training) and 875,707 (advanced training)
• Civil engineering helpers: 139,599 (initial training) and 213,987 (advanced training)
• Packaging and labeling workers: 107,404 (initial training) and 136,540
• Butchers and related trades: 95,449 (initial training) and 268,867 (advanced training)
• Drivers of general cargo vehicles: 77,794 (initial training) and 475,757 (advanced training)

The director-general of the National Service for Industrial Learning (Senai), Rafael Lucchesi, recognizes that the recovery of the formal labor market will be slow due to the gradual resumption of economic activities after the pandemic. It will be essential to prioritize improving those employed and those seeking new opportunities to improve the level and quality of employment and contribute to technological progress and increased productivity in companies.

“We are facing a scenario of low GDP growth, stalled structural reforms, such as tax reform, elections, and high levels of unemployment and informality. In this context, the map arises to understand the transformations in the labor market and encourage people to seek qualifications where there will be jobs. And this qualification will be recurrent throughout the professional trajectory. Anyone who stops studying will be left behind,” he evaluates.

With information from G1