Home Office Is New Measurement of Economic Inequality in Brazil

Almost six months have passed since companies started allowing employees to work from home. Now, the data regarding this work system is a new measurement of the country's economic inequalities. In July, of the 8.4 million remote workers in Brazil (about 10% of the employed population), almost half, 4.9 million, were in the Southeast. In the region, which concentrates more qualified professionals, 13% of employees worked remotely while social distancing. At the other extreme, only 252 thousand people were in the home office in the North, or 4% of the employed. The figures from the IBGE sample survey also point out that, in the South, 9% were in teleworking, the same proportion in the Midwest, while in the Northeast they were 7.8%. For professor Joao Luiz Maurity Saboia, from the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro, the data confirm that remote work is an additional benefit for the most qualified, especially those with a college degree. Professionals dedicated to areas related to science or intellectual tasks are 13.5% of employed Brazilians, but they even represented 50% of home office workers in the pandemic. This portion of the workers felt comfortable in teleworking.