Staff shortage has affected activities such as drug licensing and even royalty distribution; employees are also asking for pay rises and considering strikes
Federal regulatory agencies have faced an increasingly worsening problem: staff shortages. Regulatory entities have around 1/3 of their positions unoccupied, with 3,708 vacant positions out of a total of 11,522. This is what a survey carried out by the Power360 with the 11 federal agencies.
The worst situation is ANM (National Mining Agency), the newest of the 11. Created in 2017 from the former DNPM (National Department of Mineral Production), the agency has 62% of its positions unfilled. Of the 1,728 vacancies provided for by law, 650 are filled. Of these, there are 205 people receiving a permanence bonus, that is, they can retire at any time.
Next, the biggest staff shortage is in ANTT (National Land Transport Agency), with 47.7%. The entity recently sent the government a request for a public tender to fill 343 of its 806 vacant positions for permanent positions.
The rate is also high in Anac (National Civil Aviation Agency): 32.4%. Of the 1,755 positions foreseen in the entity, 569 are vacant. The agency held a recent competition to fill 70 vacancies and requested authorization from the MGI (Ministry of Management and Innovation) for another competition for 256 vacancies.
According to the Poder360, the scenario has directly impacted the work of agencies. At Anvisa (National Health Surveillance Agency), for example, there is a delay in licensing some medicines. In Anatel (National Telecommunications Agency), the handling of user complaints has been compromised.
Even transfers of sectoral resources to the government have been delayed. With such a staff deficit, the ANM has limitations in inspecting dams and has delayed transfers of resources from the Cfem (Financial Compensation for Mineral Exploration), known as royalty from mining, to the benefited cities.
In June, for the first time in history, the Aneel (National Electric Energy Agency) delayed the transfer of royalties from Itaipucompensation paid by the binational plant to cities located in its area of influence in Paraná and Mato Grosso do Sul.
Authorizations for important investments in federal infrastructure concessions, such as highways, ports and airports, are also affected.
MOBILIZATION
Agency directors have stated that the situation is on the verge of chaos and have warned that the situation could get worse. In a show of support for employees, in recent weeks five entities have suspended their regular board meetings: Aneel, Anatel, ANP (Petroleum), ANS (Health and A-N-A (Waters).
In early June, the directors of the 11 federal agencies disclosed one joint note against the 20% budget cut made by the government. They stated that the entities are already facing a “critical budgetary and personnel situation” and that there is a risk of paralysis in the provision of services.
The directors of the agencies even sent letters to their managing ministries asking for their positions to be reinstated. The ministers Alexandre Silveira (Mines and Energy), Silvio Costa Filho (Ports and Airports), Margareth Menezes (Culture) and Juscelino Filho (Communications) expressed support and forwarded the requests to the MGI, headed by Esther Dweck.
There is an ongoing negotiation between regulatory civil servants and the ministry. In short, the Synagencies (National Union of Employees of National Regulatory Agencies) asks:
- restoration of vacant positions in regulatory entities;
- end of contingency and increasing agency budgets;
- salary appreciation and equalization of regulatory professionals with those who work in the so-called management cycle, such as careers at the Central Bank, CGU (Comptroller General of the Union), Susep (Private Insurance Superintendence) and CVM (Securities Commission). The category claims salary gap of 40% in comparison with employees in the management cycle.
On Thursday (June 27), employees of regulatory agencies carried out an action that included protests and standard operations at several airports and ports in the country. The mobilization even delayed some flights. On Friday (June 28), they approved a 24-hour national strike for next July 4.
STRIKE ON THE RADAR
To the Poder360Fábio Rosa, president of Sinagências, says that the objective is to raise awareness in the government regarding the new round of negotiations, scheduled for July 11. He says that the possibility of a strike has not been ruled out if the negotiations do not progress.
“Negotiations are difficult because the government claims that there is a huge fiscal pressure. The possibility of a strike cannot be ruled out if the government does not advance in the negotiations and does not make an effort to develop a proposal that at least meets the concerns we are raising.”he stated.
According to a survey by Sinagências, 2,106 employees requested dismissal and 1,789 retired since 2008, resulting in a reduction of 3,800 regulatory workers in 16 years.
Elson José da Silva, president of UnaReg (National Association of Permanent Employees of Federal Regulatory Agencies), states that the current remuneration encourages employees to change agencies or go to the private sector. The government proposed a 9% adjustment in 2025 + 3.5% in 2026. A new meeting will be held on July 11.
“The situation is critical. And this shortage of people is likely to get worse if the government does not pay more attention to careers in agencies. There is a devaluation of salaries that is causing many to leave their positions in agencies for other bodies or even for the private sector.”it says.
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