Formally employed immigrants down 13% in Brazil in 2016

Figures released by Brazil’s International Migration Observatory, in cooperation with the National Immigration Council and the Labor Ministry, reveal that the number of foreigners occupying formally registered job openings in Brazil was 13% lower than the rate observed in 2015.

In addition to affecting millions of Brazilians who saw themselves without a job at some point in the last few years, the crisis facing the country since 2014 made an impact on the amount of immigrants able to enter the labor market, interrupting the positive trend seen from 2010 to 2015.

Research Coordinator Leonardo Cavalcanti argued the effects of the crisis took longer to impact foreign workers than it did Brazilians due to the concentration of immigrants in sectors in which the results of the economic slowdown were only later to be seen.

“In 2015, while Brazilians had to cope with the effects of a severe economic crisis, immigrants remained with a positive balance for employment. In 2016, however, they become more perceptively affected by the crisis,” Cavalcanti said, noting that the figures for the first half-year of 2017 indicate a possible improvement in the general outlook.

“[Official] data for the first half-year show a slight recovery, with more immigrants being hired than fired. We must wait until the end of the year to see if this trend will prove true or not,” he said, adding that Brazilians have no reason to worry about the influx of immigrants. “Immigrants are not coming to Brazil to steal jobs. They add up to less than one percent of the country’s population.”

Translated by Fabrício Ferreira