Brazil is confronting a monumental challenge: the need to reskill and upskill over 14 million workers by 2027 to meet the demands of a rapidly evolving labour market.
This is according to Felipe Morgado, Superintendent for Technical Vocational Education and Training (TVET) and Higher Education at SENAI, Brazil’s National Industrial Training Service, who spoke at the BRICS Skills Auditorium.
He said Brazil’s workforce must adapt swiftly to technological advancements and environmental shifts reshaping industries. Sectors most affected include information and communication technology (ICT), healthcare, logistics, supply chain management, green energy, advanced manufacturing, construction, and mining. The agricultural sector faces a shortage of 30% of technical workers, while energy technicians are in short supply in the Amazon region, with an 18% deficit.
To address these gaps, Brazil is rolling out a multi-pronged strategy. Public-private training programmes aim to accelerate skill development in priority areas, while skills-based hiring practices are increasingly replacing formal degree requirements with competency-focused evaluations.
The government is also expanding digital literacy programmes, particularly in underserved and remote regions, to ensure inclusivity, and cross-border remote work opportunities are being explored to retain skilled professionals within the country and mitigate a brain drain.
The recent BRICS Labour and Employment Ministers’ Meeting underscored the importance of ethical integration of artificial intelligence, reskilling initiatives, and social protection policies. Ministers stressed that lifelong learning and international collaboration must become tools to ensure technological and environmental transitions benefit all workers, particularly vulnerable populations.
Brazilian businesses are investing heavily in short-term reskilling programmes, and 91% of enterprises report prioritising these initiatives. Remote work arrangements are increasingly adopted by 48% of companies in telecommunications and technology sectors. Accelerated training models developed through public-private partnerships complement these efforts, rapidly equipping workers with the skills most needed in the evolving economy.
As part of efforts to address the skills gap, SENAI and Brasscom have signed a Cooperation Agreement to advance technical training initiatives in the ICT sector.
Under the agreement, both organisations will develop sector-specific educational content and actively promote employment opportunities for SENAI graduates within Brasscom member companies.
Brazil’s ICT sector continues to be one of the country’s most promising industries, with the potential to create up to 147,000 formal jobs by the end of the year. However, this growth is being constrained by a persistent shortage of qualified professionals.
