Working with (US) Brazilians. Good or bad?

On a forum I visit which is frequented by many Brazilians, I started a conversation on the title of this post. While I believe the question to be quite ‘loaded’ and one that can lead to often impossible attempts at definitions relating to ‘cultural identity’, I do think there’s something to be learned from such a question without seeking to find a clear-cut answer. Here’s my side of the story below…

Over the years, I’ve had several experiences with Brazilians in the American workplace, generally when they were my boss or business partner. Based on those experiences, I can say that they weren’t positive and I don’t think I would do it again. Aside from my personal opinion, I’ve heard countless times from Brazilians themselves, that working with Brazilians isn’t something you should do.

Why is that? I’m curious…and what is your opinion?

(Side note: Of course, being friends with Brazilians is great and coincidentally, I would work with them if the opportunity arose.)

….

If you’d like to know the circumstances, with one boss, I was told I’d be given a certain amount of work per week and within a month, it was doubled…yet my pay didn’t change.

Another situation, my boss paid me the same amount per week every week when my job was based on being paid per task, meaning the pay should have increased when the work increased. Everyone else was getting at least $300 more per week than I was. When I finally quit, I actually stayed on for an extra month to train my replacement (which wasn’t my responsibility, but I ended up training 4 different people). Then to thank me, my boss said he would not give me my last few paychecks…I threatened to sue and was finally given my pay.

Another situation, I was taught how to do the job (which included breaking one small rule) and yet when I did it, my boss’s boss somehow found out and I was banned from working for the large corporation again.

In other situations, during partnerships, trying to make progress with the work is virtually impossible.

….

Well, I feel like my trust factor in working with Brazilians (in the US) has been used and abused. I would have to think long and hard if I were to do it again, and even so, my answer would probably be ‘no’.

If my situation were different, like they were all Brazilians of the same city, gender, age, etc etc…then I could make a more certain observation (not necessarily a judgment) but since they were all different from each other in these ways, the only thing I have to look at is they were from Brazil and not in the US for many years.

I also have nothing to compare it to because I haven’t worked with other nationalities, aside from Americans. For me to get a clearer view, it would be beneficial for me to try working with Brazilians in Brazil…as (one commenter) suggested.

Through my studies, I would say the perception of the law in Brazil by Brazilians is that it is bendable while in the US, it is perceived as the final word, rigid. The actual practice of the law can be different from the perception…but I’m just talking about perceptions (as the practice of US law is completely full of breakable laws, corruption, etc)

Now, ‘bendable’ can refer to ‘jeitinho‘ but I think the word has a bad reputation…or better yet, an extreme one. Like, “someone who uses jeitinho, must use it all the time”. I disagree with that, I think jeitinho can be used very little by someone and only sometimes, if they wish.

It’s not possible to make such a determination as “Brazilians use jeitinho” without grossly generalizing but there are such things as cultural trends and learned behavior, especially when politics are as transparent as they are in Brazil. Basically, I’m saying I believe media and politics in Brazil to be the culprits of such a trend/perception.

One commenter stated the following…

“I have heard about the “dog eat dog” thing in the Braza (Brazilian) community in North America, Mexico included.”

To which I responded…

“Yes, if I could take a stab at it, I’d say it was due to this ‘dog eat dog’ thing here.

As far as the business partnerships and trying to get something from idea to reality, I think that’s just people being people. Everyone talks the talk more than they walk the walk.”

Another statement I made…

“I can accept that, that I just worked with the wrong people…although perhaps Gerson’s Law (Lei de Gerson) has something to do with it, which basically says take full advantage of something/someone while you can.

Even so, this ‘law’ isn’t specific to one nationality.”

As for the Brazilian view of such a question, those that have answered thus far have only calmly stated the opinion…that people are people and one cannot expect to have this question answered in any kind of unbaised way.

Tags: cultural identity, eyes on brazil, generalizations, gersons law, jeitinho, law, working with brazilians, workplace