The Brazilian government is looking at ways to relax immigration rules to attract up to 10 times more skilled foreign professionals into the country to spur growth. Despite being the world’s sixth largest economy, Brazil is currently facing a talent deficit as companies struggle to find qualified workers to ramp up their operations. In the past, Brazil had waves of immigrants arriving from all over the world. However, the economic woes of the second half of the century led to a drastic slowdown of foreigners. Today, foreigners represent just 0.3% of Brazil’s workforce, much lower than the figure of 7% at the beginning of the 20th century. Business leaders also complain that Brazilian bureaucracy makes it difficult and expensive to hire foreigners. In order to hire professionals from other countries, firms must first prove they were unable to find suitable local workers. They are also required to train Brazilians to eventually replace the foreign employees. Foreigners themselves face countless barriers and red tape – getting a temporary identity card can take more than six months.
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