Formal job market grows 5% in Brazil

The number of people with a formal job contract increased by 5% in 2018 compared to the previous year. In all, 4.9 million Brazilian workers and 85,000 foreign nationals had a formal contract signed with an employer in the year, according to data released by the Special Secretariat for Social Security and Labor of the Ministry of the Economy.

Most of the formal contracts were signed in the state of São Paulo, where 1.2 million formal job contracts were signed, followed by Minas Gerais, Rio de Janeiro, Bahia and Paraná. However, Roraima was the state that saw the largest proportional increase, with a 115% jump in formal contracts.

The Ministry of Labor offers more than 2,100 service locations in the country for citizens to apply for and issue their carteira de trabalho (“worker's portfolio”), or CTPS, the official document Brazilians require in order to sign formal job contracts. There document now also offers a digital version.

It is mandatory for workers to provide services to industry, trade, agriculture, livestock or domestic service in Brazil. The CTPS ensures workers have access to the rights granted by the Consolidation of Labor Laws (CLT), Brazil's labor code, including unemployment insurance, social security benefits and Workers’ Severance Indemnity Fund (FGTS) contributions.