The work culture in Brazil

"The work culture in Brazil"?

I asked my wife about it and she just rolled her eyes.

Hello KenAquarius,

Thank you for your contribution.

I asked my wife about it and she just rolled her eyes.

And why is that?

Do tell us a bit more about it.

Cheers,

Yoginee

Expat.com team

@Yoginee my wife is Brazilian but she doesn’t have a lot of good things to say about the work ethic in Brazil.

02/22/23 My observation has been that work culture in Brazil, like many other aspects of Brazilian culture, has more in common with work culture in Europe than in North America. Seen through that lens, a lot of things seen here begin to make sense.

Brazilians take every day of vacation and every minute of break that they're entitled to, and after more than 80 years' experience with the Brazilian Labor Code, they know the details of every one. The laws governing overtime are complicated, so employers will avoid them if they possibly can. Most people at every professional and organizational level  don't start thinking about work until they get to their workplace, and stop thinking about it as soon as quitting time arrives.

But during work time, Brazilians are hard workers. One of the most sought after qualities in an employee is that the person be "sério"/"séria" -- "serious". Being "serious" in this sense means completing the day's work correctly in the time allotted. Doing a little more is accepted but not required. Doing a little less sometimes may be ok -- everybody has an off-day once in a while -- but habitual underperforming lets down the team, and is seen as "unserious". Same for a lot of goofing off, especially when it distracts others.

The same goes for manual labor. Our apartment overlooks a large park where I often see the gardeners cutting and trimming, digging and raking. They work hard, and I don't see a lot of supervision, certainly nobody standing around and just directing. They're there four or five hours, then they're gone, but they're working every minute, usually in the hot sun.

Especially in the public sector, there are a lot of "full-time" jobs that are only six hours a day. I know at least one person with a job like that, and the gardeners may be on that schedule as well, but the same "seriousness" standard applies.

@abthree You are much kinder than my wife. She gets infuriated when people don’t call back or are late to appointments. I’m the one who remains cool. 😄

02/22/23  @abthree You are much kinder than my wife. She gets infuriated when people don’t call back or are late to appointments. I’m the one who remains cool. 😄
-@KenAquarius

Maybe she and I have just "gone native" -- she there and I here. 😂

Aside from punctuality and Brazilian's penchant for sticking to holidays and weekends and work week, Brazil, is the opposite of Japan, if we are to use extremes to make generalized comparisons.

Work for hire, is another thing. Brazilians in a whole, as a stereotype, lack follow through  and active listening skills, exceptions notwithstanding. If you are a taskmaster and used to give orders and have them followed through diligently, you are in for a rude awakening. 

It gets a little better as you climb the social ladder, granted your neophyte underling.  If he or she has the right attitude, then you might be onto someone to be counted. 

The food counter is my litmus test. You make a simple order, but outline verbally and clear how you want it.  Nine out of ten times, they will get it wrong. 

Lawyers for hire is another one.  I may outline in verbal agreement what i do expect, and the boilerplate contract  they fire me back , well I have to stand my ground and redo the contract all by myself if I want it done right, a job that should be within the domain of expertise of an attorney. And I am not a trained attorney.

I solicited bids for accounting services, and low and behold, any who bothered me to quote prices, out of ten I inquired upon, only one actually to put together an outlined written quotation.

Work ethic tends to be better the farther South you go. Anything past Sao Paulo, and Sao Paulo included, is forgettable. My sole exception to this rule, and stereotypes apply here, is Minas Gerais, if you hire a handyman or construction worker, often times the work gets done in time,, quietly and neat. And I am not a Mineiro.  Matter of fact, in America,  getting Mineiros to do your contracted construction work often was done up to spec. 

As for corporate, it depends.   All petty politics and on the job frolicking aside ( in which they are up to par with Americans ), sometimes they tend to get creative and deliver results. 

Another good example....

Your typical contractor or auto mechanic, in America, shows up to work with at the very least, the essential in tools.  Not only that, having  the most tools was a badge of honor.  I pushed Red and Chrome with a Snap-On Tools Route, and the bigger was the roll-a-away storage, the bigger was the ego.

Your contractor in America shows up on a pickup, with bed storage, a tool belt, and sometimes, your Red Wing boots. The choice of brand name power tools is an excuse to brag.   All those paid by the tradesman himself.  Here.... It's laughable, nothing.  I've seend tradespeople laying bricks on those flip flop sandals. 

In Brazil, whether it is a trades construction worker, plumber, or an auto mechanic, they show up with no tools, and expecting you to supply them.. 

02/22/23 In Brazil, whether it is a trades construction worker, plumber, or an auto mechanic, they show up with no tools, and expecting you to supply them..
-@sprealestatebroker

That's an enormous pet peeve of mine.

Like most American men that I know -- and to the endless amusement and amazement of my husband -- I arrived with a pretty well-stocked toolbox.  I do a lot of our minor repairs, but I know my limitations.  The first couple of times that workers arrived here and asked to use my tools, I let them.  Two chances, two tools broken through misuse.  Lesson learned.

Now when they ask whether I have tools, I just lie.  And somehow, they finally come up with their own.

Honestly! I can relate since I moved here a year ago, I have accomplished absolutely nothing struggling to get people to do what they are paid for; I am behind on business negotiation because of this.

I work 3 jobs remotely and simultaneously working towards setting up a business here in brazil. Every time I call a lawyer or a business agency nonchalance with which they get things done is infuriating.

1. The lateness to respond to messages, endless silence, especially when waiting for feedback, and lack of concern sometimes! I spend hours on the phone for a long time explaining the same thing countlessly puts a strain on my work, And boom, when I decide to leave it till the end of the week when I have free time: they close early for the weekend if anyone has a solution for how to navigate the business scene in Brazil, please share would love to get some help maybe I'm doing something wrong.

Thanks!

It sounds like you all are proving my wife correct.

l do have a funny story to share. My mother in-law had a guy hanging a door for her. We sort of suspected he had been hitting the cachaca as he was talking to himself and swearing a lot. So he leaves to go pick up something from the hardware store. Upon returning he forgot which building we were in and he was wandering around the parking lot yelling for us. I mean the apartment is a corner unit on the first floor. I think a six year old could have found it…. but maybe not a drunk six year old

@Ako Stephen .... I have to admit "the lateness to respond to messages...." really got me.  Dell has a fantastic network, and we have a contractor that worked on my Dell XPS 13 before. I had water damage and needed a repair. it took forever for him to get back with me. Was I covered by Warranty?  After a while he called back and answered no.  The difference is in the United States when you for instance ask the mechanic, they then offer that ..."no you are not covered but for only $... I can get you set-up" No luck. He just left a message and said no, so I had to call back and ask well what if you repaired it ...how much?  No follow up.

So much to learn.

Roddie in Retirement

This is a shout out FOR Brazilian Work Culture.  My wife hired 3 brothers to build "A Casa do Azul".  It is my house on my wife's property (don't ask) and it took about 3 months for $123K Reis. It could easily be an Air BNB. They did a great job, and I am responding to EXPAT.COM from my office (I live in a very small village, up north and everyone here builds, there is only land for sale no houses).

Every morning the motor bikes arrived at 7am. My wife would have breakfast for them, and they would work until 11ish then go home and come back after 12 (no I know it is actually less culture and more damn hot in the middle of the day). In the afternoon she would have coffee for them, and they would work until after 5pm.

Roddie in Retirement

@roddiesho Good for you! Of course there are good people everywhere. You just have to find them

@KenAquarius

indeed

https://www.trade.gov/country-commercia … challenges

ranked 184 out of 190 countries ease of doing business

its a place to retire not work lol

https://www.trade.gov/country-commercia … challenges
ranked 184 out of 190 countries ease of doing business

its a place to retire not work lol
-@jc1234

The World Bank’s Doing Business 2020 report ranks Brazil 124 out of 190 countries.

No 184 out of 190.

And these do not factor labor.  Just Government Bureaucracy, Trade Customs Taxation, Transparency.

Using the same link as you did.

Labor and Ranking not whatsoever related in this report.

What folks want in this forum is what is like to deal with Brazilians under contracted work or in the workplace.

They want first hand experiences, not some quotation from a government website.

This is a shout out FOR Brazilian Work Culture. My wife hired 3 brothers to build "A Casa do Azul". It is my house on my wife's property (don't ask) and it took about 3 months for $123K Reis. It could easily be an Air BNB. They did a great job, and I am responding to EXPAT.COM from my office (I live in a very small village, up north and everyone here builds, there is only land for sale no houses).
Every morning the motor bikes arrived at 7am. My wife would have breakfast for them, and they would work until 11ish then go home and come back after 12 (no I know it is actually less culture and more damn hot in the middle of the day). In the afternoon she would have coffee for them, and they would work until after 5pm.

Roddie in Retirement
-@roddiesho

1.They show up in a Motorcycle , to do contracting work. Imagine your garden variety American Contracta ( mispelled on purpose ) showing up at your doorstep to get work done in a motorcycle. I can bet against your bottom dollar you would turn them away.  At least a VW van would suffice here.  Not a rinky dinky motorcycle. This ain't Vietnam for Chrissakes.

Lunch Break.  The American culture, whether you are at a Union Construction Site or at a job site with a bunch of trucked in workers, is that each and everyone has a brown bag or a lunch pail.

Coffee Break, Breakfast.  Granted, here  some companies provide this as a fringe benefit, Value Stored Card to pay for meals., and you are not running a canteen.   In America, is the Canteen truck making the rounds that picks up on the slack.  They still get the coffee break, but the laborers have to  fish their pockets for the munchies. 

The point is, out here,  even considering you pay them a lot less than you would do in America,  you don't patronize workers, no baby sitting. You slack at the jobsite, your foreman will chew your arse.

@sprealestatebroker ...and yet I have a beautiful house built under budget, on time.

I do not know how to respond to this.

The name of this post is "The Work Culture in Brazil" not Vietnam or the U.S.

It is their culture take it or leave it!

Roddie in Retirement

@Mickael

What drives me CRAZY is when you hire someone to do a job, they bring no equipment WHATSOEVER!

It really PISSES ME OFF! 

Then, you have to loan your equipment to them, and if you don't have any ... well, you're SCREWED!

I don't fall for this NONSENSE anymore! 

I'll offer to rent what I have, or discount from the agreed price.

There was one plumber who was EXTREMELY RELIABLE, and ALWAYS had his own equipment.

I gave him a R$20.00 tip one time for his effort ... He asked why, so I told him it was a Christmas Present, even though Christmas had passed.

Brazilians get confused if you offer a tip for good service.  It's so foreign to them.

They REALLY appreciate when you do!

@Dmitry Ford You are so right about the tip thing. My wife is Brazilian and she still can’t understand my wanting to slip a waiter 5 or 10 reais. I tell her for one thing they did a good job and took care of me. For another thing my mother worked years in restaurants. I know these people work long hours for little money. If l can do some small thing to help them l will.

Informal labourers in Brazil are mostly incompetent. What they do need is more vocational training. However, since the average Brazilian is poor, he/she can not demand such professionalism.

sounds like you have a bias problem.

I have watched people do my wife's hair, and nails and (ahem) wax depilation and they are all top notch.

My wife has hired people to seal the concrete against the roof to keep lizards out, success, to rebuild the tower holding our water tank, success, and to wire a 20 amp circuit for a  professional hiar drier she bought, success.  I have bought fish and also ducks from people who came to the door and ....when I pointed out that the ducks would be easier to cook if they were dead, and had their feathers and offal removed, she found someone to do that in an hour, and did it really well .....

I have quite a few problems with the bureaucrats and bankers but the locals that I hire all give good service.....

@Inubia I totally agree. Unless you are on a short tourist visa, you will probably be around long enough to have a personal connection with a local handyman etc.  Step away from the "Craigslist Contractors" and find a reasonable, skilled and loyal handyman, especially for emergencies. We have one that drives us around does chores, even changed a lightbulb after the big storm. (don't laugh I was not tall enough).

Remember you get more flies with honey than vinegar, and who couldn't' use more flies here in Brazil? 

Roddie in Retirement

@Inubia

I had an issue with the right front wheel of my used car.  In 2 million miles and god knows how many vehicles, I've never seen this before, but then its front wheel drive, which is simply nuts imho.

When I contacted the dealer, first he was all warm and fuzzy and wanting to make everything right.  then his mechanic looked it over and shrugged.  Then he sent me to a specialist down a back alley.  the specialist tinkered but changed nothing, and charged me.  Then he said his warrantee doesnt cover wheels.  And then he begged me to use his people anyway.

I took it back to the shop I have been using.  they have a brand new balancing set-up just installed.  they showed me where the camber of the wheel was 15 degrees out of true.  wow was that ugly!  Their man who fixes those things was on vacation and I had to wait 2 weeks.  when he came back he had some pretty bizarre tools including really heavy steel forms and hydraulic bending apparatus.  He got it close to right, not perfect but close enough so that I wont be going through new tires every 2000 miles anymore.

I have bought 4 new tires from them already.   decent prices, decent service.

They know what I have been through.  they did the work for free.

Plus, they are funny, really delightful people.  And they have come to get us, twice, when we had no wheels to get to them.

I contracted to have two outbuildings built behind my dream house.  But we had a rainy season that lasted 3 months this year instead of the usual one.  By the time it was over there were ruts in my driveway two feet deep.  He had some delays in doing the construction and I had some delays in paying him.  The workers came on a moto, usually, but he brought all the tools and supplies they needed, when they needed them.  Including a big heavy cement mixer.  They  have done an oustanding job with the details of the construction, even varnishing the rafters as I asked them to to protect against termites, and building a low retaining wall that had not been part of the original plan, and finally, finding someone who could make marble chips out of the scraps at the marble quarry to fill and spread along my driveway so it is now really spectacular.

Given what I go through with my three houses in the USA, I have to rate Brazil work really high.....

@Inubia

In the USA there used to be a system of lunch trucks that brought hot meals to work sites, but its been 50 years since I worked construction, I dont know how it is now.  I certainly never fed the workers at Inubia, and its 20 miles to the nearest anything, but they did take lunch breaks.  And they often arrived before we were out of bed in the morning and stayed around until almost sundown.

In the USA I have one mexican tenant, been with me 12 years, stonemason,  I used to be able to pay him to do work on the house but not any longer, even his boys, they want to be dentists and lawyers, not work construction, they wont work for me either.  I need to sell those houses before they simply fall apart for lack of care, I cant get decent help anywhere.

@sprealestatebroker ...and yet I have a beautiful house built under budget, on time.
I do not know how to respond to this.

The name of this post is "The Work Culture in Brazil" not Vietnam or the U.S.
It is their culture take it or leave it!

Roddie in Retirement
-@roddiesho

Someone showing at the jobsite with a motorcycle... i have my bias.

Motorcycles are often used to commit crimes..... In Brazil. You let someone in with a motorcycle, and he falls on the wrong side of the tracks, you are the "loaded gringo" primed for a holdup.

An established contractor with a steady book of business would have no problems in getting an old pickup truck, a VW Van, or a Station Wagon.

You can get a decent one for R$ 30,000 and plus.. 

And then there's hurting on the job.  They fall hurt due to an accident, you might end up liable for them getting hurt.

Good contractors should carry some kind of insurance.

If you managed to get a decent deal out of your rebuild, then good for you. Just don't go preaching to everybody else. Let us use best judgement and no short cuts.

A decent contractor in Brazil needs transportation.  Your cement mixer takes space.  You can't haul  it in the motorcycle.  You are not supposed to buy a mixer, unless you plan a string of building jobs. 

Wiring and plumbing means scafolds and ladders.   Got to haul them too.   Can't do that on motorcycles/. And speaking of wiring, most of the guys who show up at my door to drop fiber, at least they come in a two door hatch as their standard vehicle. Someone shows up at my door on a motorcycle, I would call the police.   

And then there are you pick axes,, shovels, sledgehammers, measuring & leveling jigs,, power tools.