Unemployment increase – A difficult situation in a difficult country

You can see already, that blogging has become a sophisticated and very interesting occupation for me with a lot of learnings and surprises. When I started my blog with my first post 2 weeks ago, I was not sure, whether I would really like this still after the first days and continue it. To be true, I had no feeling, how easy or difficult writing posts day by day would become for me and whether I would be able to select enough interesting subjects for my posts, which really call the attention readers and allow me to identify myself with these. I mean, to write blogs for the public is somehow like taking off Your clothes in front of other people. You need a hell of self esteem and courage, to start this – and even more to continue with it. But for several reasons I did not regret this project so far and I am firmly decided to continue with it for unlimited time. First of all I find it very attractive, to share my professional and private experiences, sensations and feelings openly with You. Secondly You stimulate me very nicely to continue my blog with all Your reads and with Your so many highly appreciated comments.

To be able to address so many wonderful people at so many faraway places is overwhelming and only possible since a few years due to the extremely good and simple internet tools available for this, the same as the widely spread latest generations of smart devices for communication. Another very helpful factor is the fact, that I have been able – mainly due to my really fascinating job – to construct a meanwhile quite big international network of contacts, friends, business partners, customers and many other interesting people and that – from a certain size on – such networks are growing by themselfes, because contacts of Your contact`s contacts contact You (please read it again – there is no word “contact” in excess).

Here`s the right wonderful Rolling Stones song recommendation “Far away eyes”  for my initial blogging experience:

But I am still on the learning curve as a freshly started blogger and there are still many technics and subjects, which I must – and which I will ! – find out, discover, understand, try out, practice and  integrate perfectly. The decision, in which language I should write my blogs was very easy to take. Because of my great number of friends and contacts allover the world, portuguese, spanish and german were no really viable options and it came very clear from the very beginning, that I must write these posts in english language. This is perfect for me, because I have no difficulties, to write and express myself in English. And for sure as a very nice by product this helps me to refine my experience with this language. So please native english speakers forgive me typical non-native english speaker mistakes. 

On the picture above You can see me together with Brian and Jovani. One month ago I came to the conclusion, that I should ask somebody experienced, reliable and affordable, to do some urgently necessary repair works at our house, which I had – thus calling massive protest of my wife – ongoingly postponed during the last years because of my notorious travelling absence. There were some problems with the roof and besides this my wife and I wanted to beautify the entrance to our house, our garage and the terraces in front and behind our house. One of my best friends recommended Jovani warmly to me for this job and since I came over with him, Jovani and his young helper Brian have been working upon all that the whole time. 

Jovani is a 37 year old married Brazilian, has two little daughters and lives in a nearby small village. He was born in the quite near state of Minas Gerais and has moved to Sao Paulo about twenty years ago looking for a job. Brian is 21 years old and lives in Jundiai, our neighborhood city and works together with Jovani since about one year as his helper. Jovani is the typical example of a Brazilian born in poor familly at a quite simple place on the countryside, who – without receiving any help from any others and much less from the state – after primary school started to learn doing different things and developped over the years to a small but successful entrepreneur. Actually he works alone with Brian and from time to time, if he aquires a little bigger jobs, he contracts – on a daily basis – one or two additional helpers. His job and income protection is the dedication, friendlyness and absolute quality with which he does all kinds of typical house repairs and modifications, from groundworks, to civil, over electrical and all other types of crafts. His marketing campaigns are the mouth-to-mouth recommendations of his satisfied customers, which make him practically always find directly a new job when he finishes one. To be true and frank – to a great extend it`s the millions over millions of good and hard working people like Jovani and Brian,who drive the economy of this country and keep the population provided with food and all other important things for their basical needs.

Nor Jovani nor Brian are getting tremendously rich with this. But they are working, earning money, can sustain their famillies (food, health, education) and they are proud on their proven skills and abilities, which their customers appreciate and which they constantly develop further. During the weeks since they started working at our house I sit in my home office in our open barbeque station in the garden and watch them working. We have made friendship since the first days and I enjoy very much, to talk with them a couple of minutes every day and to learn interesting things from them. Very nice and good people. And lucky people. Different to the vast and steadily increasing number of Brazilians in the working age without any jobs and income by own productive activities. The IBGE – Brazilian Institute for Geography and Statistics – has just pulished it`s recent quarterly survey on unemployment and the results are devastating. For the first time more brazilians in the working age (87,7 million people) are unemployed than employed (85,9 million people). This is the worst result since the IBGE started to do these surveys for the first time in 2012. Just during the last three months 2,5 million oficially registered workers have lost their jobs, but also – even worse – 5,8 million “informal” workers are on the road again now without any more income.

This is very sad and sets our country and society massively back again. Even more important now, that we keep as many of the still operating and functionning businesses in Brazil going and take the best possible care of them. We at Vulkan do Brasil employ roundabout 200 employees. If I assume, that in the average each of them lives in a familly with 4 people, this gives already a number of 800 people. But in reality, due to the above described circumstances, many of our employees need to give financial support to other familly members which do not (any longer) have jobs and income. Thus we can easily assume, that more than 1000 people depend on the jobs and on the income of our employees and thus on the continuity of our business. Besides the income, all our employees have a health insurance provided by  our company, receive meal subsidies and several other benefits, which are very valuable and extremely important for them and for their whole “greater” famillies.

Many companies in Brazil have fallen into deep financial problems and all other kinds of trouble during the last decades – besides the repeatedly appearing economical & political crisis -because of bad and sometimes even irresponsible management. We as Vulkan do Brasil have just proudly completed 45 years of existence and functionning – as well during the many good times as also during the many bad times – in this as beautiful as suffering country and our identification with this country, and the acceptation of the responsability, which we have as employers for all our employees within more than the formal, normal, legally attributable limits has never been ignored nor disputed, since our german headquarters and the owners of our group took the decision, to open our company in Sao Paulo 45 years ago.

So far we are withstanding successfully all negative impacts of the Covid-19 crisis and also the colateral economic recession effects in Brazil and we keep our business fully and successfully going. As President of this wonderful company, I would like to express my thanks at this place and time to all our faithful customers, suppliers, service providers, all other business partners and for sure as well – last not least – to all our fantastic employees. You may doubtlessly count on Vulkan do Brasil and our uninterrupted and unharmed ongoing availability and well functioning, as far as this remains in our own hands.

Thanks and a warm embrace as well to my readers allover the world. I wish You great success with Your own businesses and activities and hope, to meet with You here again in my blog tomorrow morning.