This study is aimed at filling in a gap existing in the literature on productive restructuring in Brazil, traditionally dealing with labor organization and the jobs that survive the changes. We know very little about the working options of those people who are directly and negatively affected by restructuring. Thus, instead of questioning technology to be able to seek for the most appropriate worker in the social structure, we should question the supply and demand of workforce itself, in order to unveil the effective potentialities of productive and social incorporation of those workers who have had their work project in the world of factories, but witness their position options restrained by structural destruction of work positions. As a general working hypothesis, it seems fair to assume that the more systemic the restructuring of any given sector, higher the risks of job loss and lower the chances of professional reinsertion of the dismissed workers, so that the original capacitation capital and quality of the job is preserved. That hipothesis is examined through studying the history of events, with the transport material industry employees in the state of São Paulo as the object.
work market; automobile industry; occupational histories; Brazil
