Rotocast #37 | Is it a lack of operators or a lack of structure? — Labor in rotomolding — LIVE

What you gain by watching

• Understand why retaining labor in rotomolding starts before the salary: leadership, culture, recognition, and real working conditions.
• See how training, benefits, and tax credits can turn into cash and productivity, with no magic promises.
• Discover practical ways to take part in the labor survey, the traveling course, and the marketplace that connects the entire rotomolding industry.

Episode chapters

1. 1

   Are we short on operators or short on companies that retain those who arrive?

   We opened episode 37 by tearing down the ready-made phrase that nobody wants to work and replacing it with the question that really hurts: is it a lack of people, a lack of qualified people, or a lack of commitment from those who hire? That's when Júlio César told what he experienced as a manager in a mining town of 70 thousand inhabitants with 200 thousand jobs — the second most industrialized in the state, behind only Belo Horizonte — where an employee would leave for lunch and simply not come back.

   ▶ Watch at approximately 6:40
2. 2

   The unexpected answer about the end of the 6×1 shift schedule

   When the boss asks employees what they think about the end of the six-by-one shift schedule, the answer isn't what everyone expects — and it's precisely this honest feedback that shows why listening to those on the factory floor changes everything. We brought this video that circulated on the internet to debate the topic and talk about how the exchange of experience, inside and outside companies, is what really makes the sector evolve.

   No, for me, six by one, if I want to earn more, I'm in.

   ▶ Watch at approximately 11:44
3. 3

   Ideal shift, real salary: what the operator wants to hear from the factory

   A video provokes the audience with the question everyone has already heard on the factory floor — six by one, five by two, four by three? — and the conversation spirals into seven by zero until it reveals that the minimum work with the maximum salary is a desire nobody admits out loud. But the talk turns when we realize that the company also complains about the lack of qualified labor while trying to pay minimum wage, or below it, to an engineer to operate production. The turn is simple and harsh: before demanding, you need to look at what is offered — compatible salary, growth plan, training, and conditions that speak to the new generations.

   And then haven't you learned yet that to earn more, you have to work more first?

   ▶ Watch at approximately 16:51
4. 4

   The end of the pride of 40 years at the same company — and what the new generation demands from the company

   Before, staying four decades in the same role was a source of pride; today, that logic has been turned upside down and younger folks don't waste time where they don't feel good — and it's not always about salary. We also talk about how turnover changes depending on the region: in cities with too many openings, the way out is to train those already inside, because bringing people from outside is expensive and, many times, runs into cultural fit — the employee raised in the house already breathes the company's culture.

   ▶ Watch at approximately 22:00
5. 5

   Culture habit and the cost of swapping profile and role

   When you bring someone from outside, culture habit weighs heavy: they may even be a good collaborator, but they don't adapt to the new reality and create discomfort for themselves and for those around them. The way out we defend is to look inward, give opportunity to those already there and know how far to explore their best potential — because profile X is for role X, profile Y is for role Y, and swapping that makes both sides lose.

   If you swap it, both sides lose.

   ▶ Watch at approximately 27:21
6. 6

   Leading is being together: when the desk sits on the factory floor

   Delegating isn't just handing over the task, it's taking on the weight of the decision and living with the mistake or success of whoever is on the other side. That's why, instead of judging from afar, we made a point of putting the desk inside production and treating each person as an individual, because it's in the day to day, in conversation and by example, that a leader's trust is built — and that's what separates bossing from leadership.

   They didn't see me there as a boss, they saw me as a leader, which is very different

   ▶ Watch at approximately 32:27
7. 7

   The satisfied operator who didn't want to grow — and what to do with him

   You've already run into that employee who does what he does very well, but doesn't want to study, doesn't want to change roles and says he's satisfied — so what do you do with him? That was the story we told, and the answer that came up was clear: respect those who are good at what they do, but understand that each person has a different motivation. A career plan isn't bureaucracy, it's what turns encouragement into quality of work — whether it's a general helper who becomes level two, or a senior programmer who just wants a challenge to solve, because it isn't always salary that moves someone.

   Sometimes a small thing you do, a small change you make, in your company, already makes all the difference for whoever is there.

   ▶ Watch at approximately 37:28
8. 8

   Recognizing the operator and beating the beach in the dispute for labor

   Nobody lives on pats on the back, but recognition of those who kill themselves on the factory floor makes a difference — and that's what we discussed when remembering bosses who only repeat that 'it's his obligation'. On the other hand, the problem gets even bigger when the region is a tourist one: there are people who simply don't add another machine because they can't find labor for any role. The way out we revealed is to treat this as a cultural dispute, offering a real differentiator — benefits, conditions and recognition — to bring the employee to your side.

   No, I don't want to be serving people, I want to be served.

   ▶ Watch at approximately 42:30
9. 9

   One swallow doesn't make a summer: the form that can unlock rotomolding's labor

   We know that the lack of labor squeezes rotomolding in each region in a different way — and that many companies watch from afar without revealing themselves, afraid of being exposed. That's why we put on the hub a labor survey form that you can fill out anonymously or identifying yourself, because the projects we're designing for your region only get off the ground with your participation. In the end, the math is simple and we repeat it without fear: one swallow doesn't make a summer — we mold the future of rotomolding together with you.

   One swallow doesn't make a summer.

   ▶ Watch at approximately 47:35
10. 10

    We offered the course for free and nobody wanted it: what is missing in rotomolding?

    We aired the uncomfortable question every rotomolding manager has already asked: why is it so hard to find and keep people committed to schedule, attendance and technical study? Jucezão told us he lived that firsthand when he needed to departmentalize the factory, offered a course, a car, a bus and early dismissal — and almost nobody accepted, until he went along himself to bring two people with potential.

    The only thing the company cannot take from you is what you have learned

    ▶ Watch at approximately 53:03
11. 11

    Jobs that cross cities and the blackout of those just starting out

    We started by recalling why it is worth choosing a profession that provides employment in any city — from the waiter who earned commission on a fifteen-thousand-real bottle of wine to the machinist who was never idle — and we reached the other side of the coin: the gap of those who demand a senior and close the door to the junior, a mistake that only increases the company's own deficit. We closed with what we experience in practice, between the Brazil cost that weighs on hiring and the choice to lead by praising in front of everyone and correcting in private.

    ▶ Watch at approximately 58:08
12. 12

    The Brazil cost that pushes companies to automate or emigrate

    When the weight of labor charges makes a salary of one thousand reais cost double for the company, the small and medium entrepreneur must choose between adapting or leaving the game — and it was that pressure that led one of us to automate tasks that replace up to five people in the operation itself. The way out is not just cutting costs: it is investing in qualification, benefits such as PAT and smart ways to reduce the tax burden, as we showed when we called Ivan Grisolia from CX Contábil to talk about credit recovery.

    When you do not invest, you start having expenses, it is different.

    ▶ Watch at approximately 1:03:23
13. 13

    Tax credits and the invisible loss nobody sees in rotomolding

    We discovered that a client had forgotten tax credits and today deducts about two thousand reais per month — money that leaves the government's table and comes back as cash. The conversation went further: without a cafeteria, without a benefits program, without transportation vouchers, the team simply doesn't stay, and the invisible cost of turnover erodes the operation. The solution came from within: guide deductible benefits, review the tax classification, and train the operator, because retaining labor is also productivity.

    It's money you leave behind, you take it off the government's table.

    ▶ Watch at approximately 1:09:10
14. 14

    Itinerant rotomolding course: how to bring the training to your factory

    Instead of setting a date and waiting for people to show up, we decided to gather the class first and only then schedule the course — and that's how the Essentials of Rotomolding, from science to the factory floor, became an open schedule in Guarulhos, Minas, the South, and the Northeast. The material comes from our dear Nilton Nicoletti, the pope of rotomolding, and it's two days, one theoretical and one practical at the machine; if your company provides the space, we organize the in-house training with special conditions, and those looking for a used machine, a turnkey factory, or a burner course will also find the right opportunity in the hub's form.

    We want to gather people first, because we've already gathered people

    ▶ Watch at approximately 1:14:23
15. 15

    From agriculture to the sander: the marketplace the entire rotomolding industry needs to know

    When it comes to doing business in rotomolding, the question that remains is: what does the marketplace have to do with those already in the market and seeing real results, like the agriculture company that turned ROI in about a year? We show that rotomolding isn't just plastic and mold — it's resin, screws, tooling, sander, labor — and that's exactly where Portal comes in to make your brand seen and remembered.

    When we talk about rotomolding, it's not just plastic and mold, folks.

    ▶ Watch at approximately 1:19:35