1 - Project IBGE 90 Years - the greatest dialogue in the recent history of the Institute

The current Board of Directors of the Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics (IBGE) took office on August 18, 2023, in Brasília, in a ceremony attended by the president of the Republic, the vice president minister and authorities and, less than a week later, had met with the directors of the national union. A short while later, the new administration had its first direct contact with the civil servants, workers, retired staff and union members of the Institute at the headquarters of ASSIBGE, to launch the project “IBGE 90 years”.

In continuation with participatory management actions, four other official meetings were held in this first year, in addition to joint meetings between the union and the Institute's directors and MGI representatives, to support IBGE civil servants demands, such as a career plan and salary adjustment for temporary workers (See Annex 1). In other we had official and regular meetings with the union, besides talks in informal situations and institutional events. 

It is worthy of mention that, in November 2023, the first edition of the meeting IBGE 90 Years Dialogues was held, at the Parada de Lucas facility, in the capital of Rio de Janeiro, bringing together more than 500 IBGE civil servants, with leaders from ASSIBGE and the IBGE's board of directors called to discuss the guidelines for activities to be carried out by the IBGE until 2026. Different thematic groups were organized into areas such as: building infrastructure, career, dissemination of surveys and technological advances, among others. All civil servants were allowed and invited to participate, upon prior registration within the established deadlines, and many of these participants came from outside Rio de Janeiro, from every part of the country.

Despite the occurrence of meetings and the frequent contact between the IBGE administration and civil servants, whether unionized or not, at headquarters or in the states, there was an apparent inflection, resulting from Ordinance 1,023 of August 22, 2024 (see Annex) which establishes the rules for the hybrid shift regime, with two work days of work onsite, for all employees, subsequently to Ordinance 156 of January 30, 2024 (see Annex), which had established that coordinators and managers should work onsite for two days every week.

With the end of the pandemic, the decision to return to work onsite at least two days a week is in line with the best practices of almost all national statistical institutes on the planet, and it is a necessary measure to welcome almost a thousand new servants who will join the IBGE after the biggest public competition in its history.

There have always been an open dialogue and actions, as all the civil servants were aware of the necessary start of hybrid wok regime, especially upon the arrival of new employees, who will be working 100% onsite, a task that demands the attendance of managers and coordinators as well.

2 - The IBGE invests in the improvement of Public spending, in an attempt to reduce rental costs and to invest in the remodel of its own buildings

The new post-pandemic budgetary reality in Brazil poses challenges to all federal public administration bodies, and the IBGE is part of this context, being affected by restrictions that require the constant search for optimization of resources and more efficient use of them. In this respect, the administration of IBGE, in line with the Racionaliza Program, of the Ministry of Innovation Management in Public Services (MGI), which advocates the sharing of public buildings seeking administrative efficiency, and based on the results of Dialogues 1 - activity of the IBGE 90 Years project, identified and recognizes in particular the rental situation of the Av. Chile branch, with annual expenses exceeding R$ 15 million, as an expense that needs to be reduced. Given a context of necessary saving and better use of public resources, it is not reasonable to spend millions of reais annually on the rent of just one building, located on Av. Chile, with entire empty or underused floors, considering that it houses three directorates where most employees have been working remotely.

Given this scenario, the IBGE started a search for buildings with the necessary features to serve the total number of civil servants currently working in the Av. Chile building. Through an agreement signed with the Union Heritage Secretariat (SPU), (see Annex 4), the Institute has sought public buildings and facilities that could meet the objective of reducing IBGE's exorbitant costs with the rental of private buildings, consuming an important part of its already scarce resources.

As the Av. Chile building becomes vacant, the IBGE will use these resources to invest in improvements and adaptation of its own buildings, specifically the headquarters, on Franklin Roosevelt Street, and the building that houses the Center for Information Documentation and Dissemination (CDDI) on General Canabarro Street, which are in precarious conditions due to structural abandonment in recent years.

Therefore, so that we can allocate teams to work remotely during the execution of these improvements in our own buildings, the IBGE Executive Board visited some public buildings in Rio de Janeiro, aiming to assess the real situation of these facilities (rooms/bathrooms/ elevators/internet) in search for facilities that can house the IBGE, during the period in which our own buildings will be under construction.

After visits to buildings in very precarious situations, the IBGE administration has available the option, yet to be implemented, of occupying a facility of the Federal Data Processing Service (Serpro), in the city of Rio de Janeiro, in Horto Florestal neighborhood, a privileged location in the city, for which, once the contract – still under negotiation – is  approved, Serpro will provide the necessary infrastructure including a cafeteria. The Executive Board has also started negotiations with municipal administration of Rio de Janeiro seeking authorization for the IBGE vans to transport servants from and to the  Leblon Subway Station and Serpro, at the beginning and end of the working day.

The attached documents show the IBGE has searched for other facilities in Rio (Annex 5) and details the conditions for use of the building offered by the Federal Data Processing Service (Serpro) (Annex 6) .

It should be mentioned that such cost reduction actions are being replicated throughout the national territory, as there are state-owned institutions in expensive, rented headquarters, and agencies in buildings without basic infrastructure conditions.

3 - The IBGE needs more support

The current budgetary situation also calls for the search of new resources, since the IBGE budget for discretionary expenses is insufficient, and prevents the necessary innovation in society's demands for new surveys.

The IBGE currently has more than 90% of its budget committed to payroll and benefits and spends less than 5% of this budget directly on surveys.

As an alternative, we tried to promote the recognition of IBGE as an Institute of Science and Technology (ICT), granted by the Ministry of Science and Technology. Such recognition was ratified by the IBGE Attorney's Office and, subsequently, by the Federal Attorney General's Office. As an ICT, the Institute has the legal obligation of establishing a Technological Innovation Center and an Innovation Policy, operated by a support foundation.

Considering the unique character of the IBGE in Brazil, the Federal Attorney's Office linked to the Institute, in an unprecedented, competent and unparalleled work, sought to create a public foundation under private law subordinated to the Institute and mirroring its structure, so that the IBGE can receive additional resources for research and technological innovation that are not subject to mandatory federal budget restrictions. The IBGE + Foundation will allow the receiving of resources to support surveys or projects developed with ministries, public banks and local authorities, which would be impossible due to dependence on the “budget”, and that can be operated through this support foundation. In these services, the resources obtained from the IBGE + Foundation will be retained and compulsorily transferred to the Institute.

It is also important to highlight that the IBGE + Foundation obtained approval from all necessary control bodies and will be inspected by the Federal Court of Audit, as can be seen in the two files (Annexes 7 and 8) that provide the procedural history and minutes of creation that include the Foundation Statute. It is worth of notice that the composition of the foundation provides for the election of employee representatives to the curator and supervisor councils, and it is only possible to carry out the election and appointment after the creation of the foundation itself and the appointment of its directing board.

4 - The new IBGE is a reality and the current administration is committed to the constitution and to democracy

The current administration of the IBGE respects the right to objection, constitutionally guaranteed, whether by permanent or temporary employees, represented by the union. For this reason, it refutes the recent allegations made by the national union of the IBGE workers (ASSIBGE), but also by groups of employees who have protested without the leadership of the union, and other apocryphal reactions that label our administration as authoritarian, the which is proven not be true not true considering the background actions listed herein and its abundant public coverage, as our administration has included union representation in the events and activities of the IBGE presidency as never before.

Based on what was briefly explained above, and on countless records that do not fit in this note, the IBGE administration cannot but firmly refute the unfounded accusations of authoritarian behavior. What is imposed today on the IBGE and its staff is not the discretionary will of the current president, but reality, and the commitment to the public and republican cause. And for this cause, Brazil works onsite, seeks to save money and to find resources to innovate and advance.

Therefore, the current administration remains in constant dialogue with the appropriate channels for each of the aforementioned areas and themes, and expects that current and new employees will fight for the institution and its modernization. We expect they will also seek to bring back the leading role of the Institute with regard to compensation, facilities and investments in surveys, which are greater than individual demands of groups or areas that are not more important than the majority of IBGE civil servants, nor more essential, as everyone is equal. This administration works for all, for the Brazilian society and for every employee, without distinction.

The current administration will follow the urgent and necessary actions defined in the IBGE 90 Years project, which has already had more than 10 thousand participations, so that Brazil and every citizen can have an IBGE that is prepared to face the complexity of the Digital Era for survey institutes, the countries themselves and their people.