According to a survey conducted by ABIMAQ/SINDIMAQ with companies in the machinery and equipment sector, 83% of manufacturing companies would be impacted by a reduction in working hours. According to the entity, a workday reduced to 40 hours per week would require an average increase of approximately 12.7% in labor costs, merely to maintain the current level of production.
In accordance with the Brazilian Machinery and Equipment Industry Association (ABIMAQ), any reduction in working hours would need to be accompanied by a corresponding increase in productivity; otherwise, unit labor costs would rise and Brazilian industry competitiveness would decline. In the case of the sector represented by ABIMAQ, a reduction in working hours necessarily implies the need for reorganization of production, additional hiring of workers, or increased use of overtime hours.
The Association notes that Brazilian industry already faces high costs, a heavy tax burden, and strong international competition, particularly from Asian countries; therefore, any structural increase in costs would tend to diminish the competitiveness of Brazilian companies and in some cases could shift production to other countries.
ABIMAQ contends that countries currently possessing reduced working hours achieved this stage after decades of investment in productive capital, automation, professional qualification, and technological innovation, and that this is not yet the case in Brazil.
"For this reason, ABIMAQ/SINDIMAQ understand that the best strategy is to preserve the current flexibility of legislation and allow adjustments to working hours to be made through collective bargaining, in accordance with the productive reality of each sector. This flexibility allows for eventual reductions in working hours to occur when productivity gains support such a change, avoiding abrupt impacts on costs and employment."
