Tech Roundup, Aug. 16, 2019 | The future of Brazil’s job market

You’re reading The Brazilian Report‘s weekly tech roundup, a digest of the most important news about technology and innovation in Brazil. This week’s topics: Brazil’s future job market. Huawei’s new factory in Brazil. The boom of voice recognition usage.

Industry 4.0 and Brazil’s future job market

While Brazilians are more connected than ever, they are also scared of the effects the future of automation could have on an already tough job market. Eight in ten Brazilians believe that jobs will be harder to find and inequality will increase, as robots are able to do much of the work currently performed by humans. 

Indeed, their fears may be grounded in reality.

A recent study by Senai, an institution focused on professional qualification for industries, shows that the job market will see a jump in careers linked to technology (22 percent more positions than today) that is much higher than the expected numbers for the overall industrial sector (8.5 percent). Companies’ interest in better-qualified professionals will also concern the services sector, especially in areas such as healthcare and insurance.

The number of jobs in tech will remain small compared to the entire Brazilian job market by 2023, but it reveals a clear trend. “The world is living in the fourth industrial revolution and Brazil, despite all economic struggles, is inserting itself, bit by bit, into the Industry 4.0 world,” says Rafael Lucchesi, Senai’s general director. On the challenges ahead, he says that “Brazil needs to train more engineers and increase the number of technical schools.”

The adaptation curve could be harsh on older professionals, as Mr. Lucchesi believes that the demand for more qualifications will affect new professionals,...