Telecommunications employers and workers disagree over the effects of ending the 6-days-on, 1-day-off schedule. Companies warn that the change could increase costs without a guaranteed productivity gain, while a workers’ union says more time off could reduce the physical and mental strain of call-center work.

Vivien Mello Suruagy, president of Feninfra, which represents companies in call centers and telecom infrastructure, described the proposed change as an “atomic bomb” for the sector. She said businesses operate on tight profit margins and that internet providers have gone nearly nine years without raising the prices charged to customers. The sector has yet to establish a detailed plan for new schedules, and industry representatives are seeking discussions with lawmakers and the executive branch over how the rules should be applied.

Call-center employees currently work 36 hours a week. The proposal to end the 6x1 schedule would preserve existing weekly hours for workers whose schedules are already below 40 hours, but require employers to provide two days off each week. Suruagy questioned whether productivity would rise quickly enough to offset the additional costs, citing a study by Brazil’s National Confederation of Industry and the country’s weak productivity performance. She said the sector faces uncertainty over whether companies would be able to absorb the change without cutting jobs or closing.

Mauro Britto, secretary-general of Sintetel-SP, the telecommunications workers’ union in São Paulo state, said a schedule change could improve productivity as well as workers’ lives. More time off could allow employees to spend time with family, take part in leisure activities and, particularly for mothers, follow their children’s development, he said.

Britto said call-center staff face pressure from employers, customers and managers, and that workers report depression, illness, psychological pressure and workplace harassment. He described employees as absorbing customers’ aggressive complaints. Despite the current 36-hour workweek, he said, the job’s demands can take a serious toll.

Practical details remain unsettled, including the length of the daily shift. Brazil’s NR-17 regulation sets a six-hour day for telemarketing work, but some workplace agreements distribute 36 weekly hours across five days of seven hours and 12 minutes. The union considers that arrangement irregular. It supports keeping six-hour shifts while moving to a five-day week, which would bring the total to 30 hours, but Britto expects employer resistance and said implementation would depend on government rules.

Low pay and high turnover add to the sector’s challenges. Telemarketing jobs are often an entry point into the workforce, particularly for young people, but Britto said starting pay is the legal minimum and benefits are below those offered in other areas of telecommunications. Some employees take a second job and work as many as 12 hours a day, he said, increasing strain from prolonged exposure to screens and the demands placed on their hearing and voices.

Ministry of Labor and Employment figures show 405,497 hires and 413,888 departures in the sector in 2025, a net loss of 8,391 jobs and a turnover rate of 95.5%. In São Paulo, the turnover rate was 100.1%, with 162,819 hires and 171,453 departures.

Average telemarketing pay in 2025 was R$1,892.33 a month. Women, who make up 72% of the workforce, earned an average of R$1,872.16, compared with R$1,944.12 for men. Average pay was R$1,467.25 for workers aged 17 and under, R$1,723.74 for those aged 18 to 24, and R$1,889.54 for those aged 25 to 29.

The number of registered telemarketing workers fell 20.4% between 2021 and 2025, from 527,884 to 420,191, according to the ministry. In São Paulo, the total dropped by 87,046, or 35.5%, to 158,384.

The Brazilian Association of Teleservices said a gradual transition and dialogue are needed to protect businesses and jobs, with attention to different work schedules. The group also called for discussion of reducing employment-related charges, a measure provided for in Constitutional Amendment 132 of 2023 that has not yet been implemented. It said workers’ well-being is closely linked to service quality and described the sector as responsible for about 1.4 million jobs and an important entry point into formal employment, especially for young people, women and Black workers.

Sources: Folha Mercado.