The Social Question in Brazil and the Implementation of Public Employment Policies in Maranhão: A Study between the Years 2008 and 2024

Abstract

This study aims to analyze the Social Question in Brazil and the implementation of public employment policies adopted in Brazil and in the State of Maranhão, highlighting the challenges faced by the government in promoting state growth and development within the period from 2008 to 2024. It is noted that, in Brazil, the multifunctional profile of workers did not match market demands, where labor rationalization strategies prevailed, based on the search for new mechanisms to reduce costs—especially wage costs—and to flexibilize labor relations. The study is theoretical and bibliographic in nature and, regarding its objectives, is characterized as exploratory and descriptive. In terms of approach, the research is qualitative, and as for the method, it is bibliographic and documentary. It should be noted that, in the State of Maranhão, during the period studied (2008 to 2024), despite the efforts made by the government to implement public employment policies, the initiatives adopted still prove to be neither effective nor efficient in solving the problem of job and income generation and economic growth in the State. The analysis of state programs implemented during the period—Mais Empregos (More Jobs), Oriented Productive Microcredit, and Employment Shopping—reveals that these measures remain largely compensatory, failing to deliver sustained job creation or income growth in Maranhão, especially after the 2017 Labor Reform, which intensified the process of precarization of labor relations.