The share of those that earn as much as two minimal wages drops, however nonetheless exceeds 90%

The creation of job vacancies with payment of up to two minimum wages (R$ 2,424) fell between 2021 and 2022, but still exceeds 90% of the total. It is the range that concentrates more job openings with a formal contract. Between January and September of this year, 92.44% of the vacancies created are in this salary range. In the same period of 2021, they were 93.64%. The creation of vacancies for those earning more than 10 minimum wages corresponds to 0.17% of the total in 2022.

Overall, considering all salary ranges, job creation is lower than in 2021. Data are from the Ministry of Labor and Social Security and were compiled at the request of the UOL.

In 2021, 2,345,010 vacancies were created that paid up to two minimum wages and, in 2022, 1,985,328 vacancies were created with the same salaries.

Why has the creation of lower-wage jobs dropped? Lucas Assis, an analyst at Tendências Consultoria, specializing in the job market, regional studies and income classes, says that, last year, the job market recovered the vacancies that were most affected by the pandemic, which are those with public service ( such as commerce and services) and which normally pay lower wages to employees.

In 2022, Assis says that there is a late recovery of vacancies in sectors that were also affected by the pandemic, but that took longer to recover, such as schools, tourism and bars and restaurants.

wanted by UOLthe Ministry of Labor and Welfare did not respond until the completion of this text.

September data: The Ministry of Social Security and Labor released data from the Caged (General Register of Employed and Unemployed) for September this Wednesday (26), which show that the country created 278,085 formal jobs in September.

The number of vacancies that pay more than 20 minimum wages grows: The number of vacancies that pay more than 20 minimum wages rose 5%, from 1,071 to 1,125.

Assis says that these vacancies usually benefit from the resumption of economic activity and that this may justify the increase in the number, but considers that it is difficult to be sure, since the number represents a very small portion of workers with a formal contract.

These vacancies are those that tend to be easier to recover in times of improvement in economic activity and that are less affected by the bad economic scenario than people who are paid less.

Low wages are common in Brazil: Assis says that the Brazilian job market, historically, has low wages, and that the pandemic has worsened the scenario.

It is a market that has a chronic issue of low wages, but we know that the arrival of covid in 2020 has deteriorated the job market, especially for the most economically vulnerable groups.
Lucas Assis, analyst at Tendências Consultoria

Fernando de Holanda Barbosa Filho, a senior researcher in the field of applied economics at FGV/Ibre (Brazilian Institute of Economics of the Fundação Getulio Vargas), says that low income is linked to the low level of productivity of Brazilians and the lack of professional qualifications.

Crisis cuts wages: In a scenario of high unemployment, people are more willing to return to the job market earning less, which explains the drops in hiring wages that were seen earlier this year.

Now, the hiring salary is increasing, but it has not yet reached the pre-pandemic level. The value went from R$ 1,892.44 in May to R$ 1,949.84 in August, in three consecutive increases. In January 2020, before the pandemic, it was BRL 2,115.82.

Barbosa Filho says that the tendency is for the hiring salary to rise if unemployment continues to fall.

Minimum wage correction influences: Barbosa Filho says that the higher value of the minimum wage also makes people concentrated in the lower income brackets.

Today, the government’s calculation to correct the minimum wage takes into account inflation measured by the INPC (National Consumer Price Index).

If the INPC for a given year was 5%, for example, the national floor for the following year will also be readjusted by 5%. This rule has been in effect since 2019, the first year of Jair Bolsonaro (PL) in the Presidency.

What is the expectation for 2023? Assis says that the projections are that the job market will have a slowdown in the creation of vacancies at the end of this year and beginning of 2023.

This must be motivated by the increase in the basic interest rate, which slows down economic activity, and by the exhaustion of available job vacancies. This year, the job market still reflects the formal job losses from the pandemic.

Next year, there should be no loss of vacancies, but creation should be slower than this year.

Source: Uol