Author: Regina Alvarez

Source: O Globo - Rio de Janeiro / RJ - THE COUNTRY - 21/05/2010

BRASILIA. A study by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) on the profile of civil servants in Brazil concludes that the public sector is very expensive for the Brazilian economy. Although the number of civil servants in the three spheres of government is lower than the average for the countries in this bloc, personnel expenses are higher, at around 12% of GDP - the average for other countries is 11%. This assessment does not yet consider the readjustments authorized in the second term of the Lula government, as it is based on 2006 expenses.

The report, commissioned by the Brazilian government and released yesterday by the Ministry of Planning, points to other problems in public administration, such as the lack of an efficient performance evaluation policy and unclear criteria in appointments to positions of trust.

“Although the government's workforce (including the federal government, states and municipalities) is relatively small in terms of the number of employees, it is very expensive for the Brazilian economy. It represents 12% of GDP (excess of employees in public companies), just above the OECD average, and 28% of all workers' compensation costs in the Brazilian economy, ”says the study.

Another aspect highlighted is the lack of an efficient performance evaluation policy.

"Despite recent significant improvements in staff performance appraisal, performance awards have become part of the regular salary of most staff, losing their original meaning of rewarding exceptional performance," says the text. Greater transparency for positions of trust Deficiencies are recognized by the Ministry of Planning.

At the presentation of the study, Deputy Executive Secretary Francisco Gaetani said: - The public service has made salary adjustments, in some cases the salary is higher than in the private sector. Have you made a leap in results? It didn't work. We have a bureaucracy to be built to deal with the market.

The study brings other figures on the weight of the public sector: “In today's Brazil, the combination of the cost of the set of public servants and public services produced by the private sector and paid by the government means that approximately 27% of GDP is dedicated to production government-funded services and public goods, placing the country in fifth place compared to OECD member countries. ” The OECD brings together 30 developed and developing countries.

The document also contains criticisms of the remuneration of civil servants in Brazil: “In its current version, the remuneration of civil servants is not yet sufficiently based on a strategic vision of what the salary levels should be, and, inevitably, leads to salary increases. not necessarily justified ”.

According to the OECD, "many improvements have been made in recent years, but successive negotiations and adjustments to remuneration by groups of workers with different lobbying powers continue to produce unnecessary costs, opacity and complexity in the remuneration system".

As for positions of trust, the so-called DAS (Senior Management and Advisory) - about 22 thousand positions in the federal government - the study highlights that this practice is in line with that of other OECD countries, including those with career-based systems such as Belgium, Korea, France and Ireland. However, it considers that there is a need to improve the transparency requirement for appointments to these positions.