Abstract

This case is about the privatization of the Rede Ferroviária Federal Sociedade Anônima (RFFSA), the ailing public sector rail transport company in Brazil. In the year 1992, the government of Brazil decided to privatize RFFSA. To bring the RFFSA back to profitability, the government planned to cut costs by means of labor reduction. The restructuring of the company involved workforce restructuring and also decisions on incentive schemes and training and development of those who had been laid off as well as of those who were retained.

Learning Objectives

The case is structured to achieve the following Learning Objectives:

• The issues and challenges related to privati-zation and the various people aspects that have to be taken care of
• The issues and challenges involved in workforce restructu-ring
• and The importance of workforce analysis in identifying the types of employees needed for the future, in making vital decisions on severance schemes and transfers between operating units, and in ensuring that the organization is able to avoid the loss of

Keywords

Workforce restructuring, Workforce analysis, Privatization, Severance schemes, Transfers, Training, Redundancy, Downsizing, Outplacement, Public sector