JBS promoted 3 out of every 10 employees in 2024

Bruno Henrique da Silva Souza joined JBS in November 2013, at the age of 22. He started as a Quality Assurance Assistant at the Andradina unit (in the state of São Paulo). From an early age, his sense of leadership caught attention and he was encouraged to develop to take on management positions. Three years later, he was approved to take part in the Internal Talents Program, which prepared him to become a Production Supervisor. He soon became Management System Supervisor in Itapetinga (in the state of Bahia), a position that allowed him to work at the Diamantino unit (in the state of Mato Grosso) and, later, the Barra do Garças units (in the state of Mato Grosso), where he became Production Coordinator. In August, Bruno Henrique was once again promoted, this time to Industrial Manager in Ituiutaba (MG).

Bruno Henrique is one of the 44,000 JBS professionals who have been promoted until November 2024. In January, the company made a public commitment to promote 40,000 professionals - a goal it surpassed in November 2024. The number of promotions in the first eleven months of the year is double the amount recorded in the same period last year. JBS is the largest private employer in Brazil, according to a study by the Economic Research Institute Foundation of Brazil (Fipe), with 158,000 employees in 130 units across the country.

“I’m immensely grateful to the company for always giving me the support to develop and grow professionally,” says the Industrial Manager. “Being promoted means being recognized for the work I’ve done and motivates me to face up to the challenges of the new role and, in the future, to dream of a new promotion.”

Developing a career

Working for a company that offers opportunities for professional development is something increasingly valued by people. According to the Employer Brand Study 2023, carried out by Randstad, Brazilian workers believe that having real chances to grow professionally is more important than receiving salary increases. This result has appeared in the last three editions of the study.

The survey showed that the opportunity for professional advancement is the first factor that Brazilians consider when choosing a company to work for. The opposite, in other words, the lack of growth prospects, is one of the main motivators for changing jobs.

Deyvdson Lima, 35, joined JBS in 2012. “I had just left a leadership position at another company, but I agreed to return to operations at JBS because I knew I would have plenty of opportunities for growth,” he says. In his 12 years at JBS, Deyvdson has been promoted four times – from Production Operator to Industrial Manager in Itapetinga.

“Those who work for a company that recognizes good professionals stop caring only about their current situation and start worrying more about training and preparing themselves to take on greater responsibilities,” says Deyvdson.

Valuing professionals

A third of JBS professionals were promoted this year. “At JBS, our mission is to be the best and guarantee the opportunity of a better future for our more than 158,000 employees. Training them and giving them the opportunity to grow professionally is the certainty of giving their families a better future”, says Fernando Meller, Executive Director of Human Resources at JBS Brasil.

Meller explains that the commitment made at the beginning of the year is a way of valuing JBS professionals, ensuring that the best job opportunities go to them. “This is the best way to recognize the people who dedicate themselves every day to building an increasingly better company,” says the JBS HR executive director.

According to him, a company’s results improve the more experienced its professionals are – hence the importance of recognizing them, giving them the opportunity to grow along with the company.

Transforming lives and making dreams come true

Promotions represent more than career advancement; they open doors to a better life for employees and their families. “When we promote 44,000 professionals, we give 44,000 families the opportunity to have a better future,” says Meller. “These are opportunities for more income, more security, more education, which transform people’s lives.”

Deyvdson says that since he joined JBS, his life has improved. In 12 years, he managed to buy his first car and his first house – and plans to put a down payment on a larger property. “My children, a 12-year-old boy, a 10-year-old girl and a four-year-old girl, study at good schools and I provide a good life for them, with much better expectations than I had when I was a child.”

Bruno, who has a three-year-old son, follows the same path. “My personal motivation to work better is to be able to give our children more than we had. And I’m going to fight harder and harder to give them even more.” The path to fulfilling this goal has been mapped out: “Ever since I joined JBS, I told my manager that my goal has always been to grow. Now I want to consolidate myself as an industrial manager and, in the future, go a step up and become a director.”