Emprego e Mecanização na Colheita da Cana-de-Açúcar: diferenças regionais [Employment and Harvest Mechanization in the Cane Sugar: regional differences]

A major concern about the mechanized of cane sugar production are the direct and indirect impacts on employment generation. To study these impacts were: a)made an inter-regional input-output model , using the matrix for the Brazilian economy in 1997, considering the five macro regions, emphasizing the Cane Sugar, Alcohol and Sugar sectors b) estimated the level of employment for the sectors of the model, considering the level of qualification of labor, that is, by years of study (less than 1 year between 1 and 3 years, 4 and 7 years 8 and 10, 11 and 14, and finally, over 15 years), c) built two sets for the process of machining and to changes in crop productivity. The results showed that the 510,651 people who were working in the sugarcane harvest in 1997,depending on the scenario that was considered, the total workforce will be reduced between 243,211 and 273,276 people, mainly those with low skill levels in the Northeast and Southeast . This also has an indirect impact on the generation of employment, which is estimated by the inter-regional input-output model built for the study.