The end of the 6×1 scale, under discussion in the National Congress, could reduce the level of productivity in Brazil, experts say. And this worries representatives of the productive sector, since the current scenario in Brazil, according to them, already shows a standard of efficiency below that observed in developed countries.
While the average annual productivity gain in the world was around 1.5% between 2016 and 2025, in Brazil, the increase did not exceed 0.5% in the same period, according to government data compiler CEIC Data.
What is productivity?
Productivity is linked to the delivery of results by a person or company during a specific period. According to public accounts specialist Murilo Viana, , that is, the generation of wealth produced from someone’s work.
“The clearest concept of productivity is how much value is generated. That is, the average worker generates R$ 1000 per hour of work. Per month, the worker will generate [a partir da sua força de trabalho] R$ 200 thousand for the company. If you reduce your journey, [o trabalhador] will start to generate [com o mesmo salário]for example, R$ 150 thousand”, explains Viana.
Fernando de Holanda Barbosa Filho, professor at FGV Ibre (Brazilian Institute of Economics of the Getulio Vargas Foundation) explains that labor productivity measures the efficiency in the use of productive resources, that is, it measures the efficiency of work, being measured as the ratio between the value added per worker or per hour worked.
Productivity can also be measured by the value added per worker or per hour worked, says the professor.
“If the worker produces one article per hour and works 20 hours, he will produce 20 articles per day. If the worker starts working 10 hours, productivity will drop to 10 articles per day”, Fernando told CNN Money.
According to Murilo Viana, there are a series of factors that explain the moderate growth rate of productivity in Brazil in recent years. In addition to the working hours, they also corroborate the levels of mechanization and industrialization of the economic sectors. The more mechanized, the greater the professional’s productivity, he explains.
In the expert’s assessment, the high basic interest rate also affects workers’ productivity. With the high Selic, there is less incentive for investments and consequently a brake on the modernization of sectors.
“The generation of wealth in the economy in the long term depends on the amount of productivity generated by each worker”, said Viana to the CNN Money.
Impacts of changing scale
In the National Congress, which is currently at 44 hours, for 40 hours a week. For professor Fernando de Holanda Barbosa Filho, it is .
“The biggest concern at the moment when discussing the change in working hours is not the change from 6×1 to 5×2, but rather the reduction in the total working day. As people will work fewer hours, they will generate less products”, he says.
In addition to the change in working hours, the professor states that the change in working hours will alter the way of production. “Once you change this, the way companies operate will change. This change can also impact productivity”, he says.
Murilo Viana also considers that the proposal being processed in the National Congress has the potential to have negative impacts on the Brazilian economy. The expert assesses that the reduction in working hours could increase the population’s informality rate, boosting the phenomenon of “pejotização”.
To maintain the same productivity rate with fewer hours worked, the need to hire more people is considered. However, Murilo warns that new hires are not “trivial” given the increase in costs.
Furthermore, the expert highlights that Brazil is experiencing the lowest level of unemployment in the historical series. Last year, the annual informality rate fell to 38.1%. In 2024, it was 39%.
“It is not trivial to implement and the economic impacts are significant. Either the company will reduce production or will have to hire more people or exchange formal labor for informal labor. Hiring more people means more costs in a scenario in which unemployment is at the lowest level in the historical series”, Murilo said to CNN Money.
A survey by the CLP (Public Leadership Center) shows that up to 640,000 jobs could be lost if the weekly working day is reduced from 44 to 40 hours. Commerce and construction are among the sectors most likely to feel the impact.
Murilo Viana also highlights that not all segments of the economy are able to mechanize their processes to maintain the same productivity with fewer working hours. For him, the workers’ claim is legitimate, but Brazil needs to find ways to maintain its productivity, if the proposal is approved.
“It is a legitimate demand from workers. Brazil needs to think about productivity gains to enable more flexible arrangements in line with sustainable growth”, he declared.
