Productivity in Brazil. Time for a change?

02/23/25 I think that Brazil would improve its productivity a lot more with greater investment in education than by dropping a few holidays.  Not a terribly original idea, I know. 

If a couple of holidays had to be eliminated, the two most likely candidates would probably be Tiradentes Day in April and Republic Day in November.  They were both invented by the generals who overthrew D. Pedro II in 1889 to try to create some popularity for their Old Republic, but the people never really took them to their hearts, although everybody likes a day off, and Tiradentes has developed something of a following in Minas Gerais over the past 130-odd years.

Messing with Carnaval is a good way to get voted out of office, if not spark riots.  A lot of people spontaneously stayed out of the streets during the Covid Pandemic, but the only time that Carnaval has been officially shortened or postponed (and only postponed for a day) was when José Maria da Silva Paranhos Júnior, the Baron of Rio Branco, died on February 10, 1912, the first day.  Rio Branco was universally admired because in his ten years as Foreign Minister he had settled all of Brazil's outstanding border disputes peacefully and in Brazil's favor; he had no losses and only one tie, splitting the difference with the United Kingdom over today's Guayana.  To mourn the man they called "The God of the Frontiers", Brazilians were willing to postpone Carnaval for a day.  For anything less?  I doubt it.

What has an even greater impact than holidays themselves, is when they occur on a Tuesday or Thursday, and people take a "sandwich" day - the Monday or Friday - off as well, resulting in a 4 day break. Then in addition every type of industry or service has an annual holiday as well.

Certainly dropping a couple of these would help increase productivity, but in my experience the biggest improvement would be created by peeling back some of the unbelievable layers of bureaucracy...!

......people take a "sandwich" day - the Monday or Friday - off as well, resulting in a 4 day break. ....... - @Peter Itamaraca

Hah! I used to be quite involved in non-profit organizations here in PB and the rule of thumb was to get work completed before Christmas because what follows is "veraneio" (everyone heads to the seaside) followed by Carnaval...... sandwich MONTHS!

The saying was - if we don't get it done before Christmas we'll pick it up again after Carnaval.

And then there's June!! (the whole month is crazy in my city) not to mention all of the other strange national, state & municipal holidays (patron saints, commerce, commerce workers more).

Now, I'm not so sure that the Wisconsin work ethic that I endured is really much better because life is short and I don't think it so bad that people get a month off and a 13th salary!

It is true that productivity takes a hit but I'm pretty sure that the Brazilians prefer it that way - most of the time.

mberigan