A PEC (Proposed Amendment to the Constitution) for the end of the 6×1 scale approved by the Chamber of Deputies continues to generate criticism from the production sector, which warns of impacts on costs, on the consumer’s pocket and on the workers themselves.
A CNN Brazil He heard experts and representatives about working hours from 44 to 40 hours a week, who see productivity as one of the obstacles to change.
Productivity: Brazil x developed
José Pastore, president of the Employment and Labor Relations Council at FecomercioSP, in hours worked.
For him, it is necessary to increase productivity and then reduce working hours. “For every productivity improvement, they [países desenvolvidos] they reduce the journey a little”, he says.
Brazil, however, is “stagnant at a very low level” in terms of production, recognizes Pastore.
While workers in advanced countries earn between US$60 and US$80 per hour, in Brazil the average is US$17.
The consideration is also made by André Portela, professor of Economics at FGV (Fundação Getúlio Vargas). He also highlights that other nations have not agreed
“The scales have always been negotiated by parties below the law”, he explains.
Portela sees a different relationship between productivity and hours worked than that advocated by the PEC at the end of 6×1.
“It is not the reduction of working hours and scale that increases productivity. On the contrary, increasing productivity leads to a reduction in working hours”, he argues.
Productivity does not compensate for reduced working hours
On the other hand, Gustavo Madi, director of LCA consultancy, makes fewer mistakes and has lower turnover, which increases productivity per hour worked.
However, he counters that this gain does not compensate for the reduction in total monthly hours worked.
“This increase in productivity per hour is not enough to compensate for the total production in the longer period of time. Over the course of a month, for example, the total amount worked by this employee will reduce, which means a lower level of production”, says Madi.
For him, the measure therefore has “a cost in terms of reducing the productive capacity of the population as a whole”.
Impact on costs
The production problem predates the discussion about the end of 6×1 and betting that the change in scale will bring gains in this sense is unlikely, according to Felipe Tavares, chief economist at BGC Liquidez.
“Brazil has one in our economy, especially in our recent history. We have had difficulty finding these productivity gains for 40, 50 years”, says Tavares.
He questions the ability to maintain production volumes constantly without increasing the number of workers, a fact that would support the argument in favor of the 6×1 PEC.
“The probability of you having a productivity gain is very small,” he says.
The scenario projected by the chief economist at BGC Liquidez is one of increased hiring and expenses for businesspeople to maintain production levels, which
“You will have a complete disruption of the business community’s cost structure, because they will have to hire more people to be able to close what they had before. This will put pressure on prices, this will generate inflationary disruption”, warns Tavares.
