Abstract

Investigating the impacts of contracting using the lowest price criterion and its relationship with job insecurity is essential for public management. This study analyses the relevance of contracting outsourced services with exclusive dedicated labour to the occurrence of social dumping in the administrative contracts of the Ministry of Management and Innovation in Public Services (MGI) between 2019 and 2023. The research involved a bibliographic survey, consultation of institutional documents and semi-structured interviews during the first half of 2024, with thirteen professionals with practical experience on the topic, including managers, outsourced workers, union representatives and labour inspectors. All the interviews were recorded with consent. Once completed, the interviews were transcribed and coded using content analysis techniques with Atlas.ti software. Among the public management practices, the results reveal problems related to outsourcing based on the lowest price, highlighting the practice of social dumping, such as delays in salaries and benefits, failures to collect workers' social benefits and holiday entitlements, as well as salary reductions. The results show the existence of a cycle of invisibility and weakening of contractual ties, which compromises the effectiveness of the constitutional principles of human dignity, the social value of work, and social justice.