In late 2017, Brazilian president Michel Temer commissioned a survey about civil service and government expenditures at the World Bank. The results were catastrophic: The Brazilian government spends significantly more than it collects and allocates its resources in an inefficient way, impacting negatively the Brazilian economy growth. One of the villains pointed by the report is precisely the size of the government, the inefficient Federal Civil Service, especially the high salaries, and disproportional benefits from the Executive branch, especially regarding the Social Security regime. The initiative is part of the Federal Government to follow through a controversial reform on civil service, under current Congress debate, in a year of presidential elections. Will the reform succeed? We analyzed the challenges and pitfalls on the Brazilian Civil Service, and its reform proposals, in comparison to: (a) private service, and (b) to equivalent civil services from other countries. Finally, we addressed the discussion on its implications to the Brazilian economy, and brought recommendations for public managers, as well as future research.
Keywords: Brazil, Civil service, Public Administration
