Brazilian IT workers union wants 30 hour working week

The largest technology workers union in Brazil will demand that employers introduce a 30 hour working week for staff as part of salary negotiations for 2017.

Union Sindpd represents techies working at sector companies in the state of São Paulo, home to most large IT employers in the country and is known for pushing hard for salary increases and other perks such as profit sharing plans.

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The idea is to bring the work week from the current 40 hours applicable at tech companies across the state of São Paulo down to 30 hours. Some Brazilian states such as Rio Grande do Sul and Santa Catarina have a standard workweek of 44 hours. By comparison, Americans work an average of 34.4 hours a week, according to Gallup.

"We represent a category that is continually hurt and put under stress. Studies have shown the positive impact of the reduction in the working week in quality of life. [IT professionals] have no time for leisure activities or even to invest in their own professional development," says Sindpd president Antonio Neto.

Despite the current downbeat mood in the Brazilian job market due to the political and economic crisis the country has experienced this year, Sindpd will push not only for the 30 hour work week, but is also looking to bring salaries above the inflation rate and avoid pay decreases.

Increasing basic salaries in line with the inflation rate (predicted to reach 7 percent for the year) might be more difficult to achieve than reducing working hours, as the country's new government plans a wide-ranging reform in labor legislation.