Brazil's INSS reassigns staff and welcomes new hires to reduce benefit backlog

The National Institute of Social Security (INSS) in Brazil has moved 10% of its rehabilitation professionals to the social assistance area to accelerate the processing of initial Benefício de Prestação Continuada (BPC) requests, which make up about 30% of the total backlog. New calls for BPC review examinations have been suspended, while roughly 280,000 scheduled exams for the year will continue. The temporary reassignment, lasting 90 days, attracted 64 of the 80 eligible workers.

In a separate step, the Minister of Social Security and the INSS president welcomed a cohort of new public servants hired through a recent concurso. The influx of staff aims to address a queue of more than 1.8 million pending benefit applications, with a goal that 80% of requests be resolved within 45 days by year‑end. Officials highlighted plans for digital service expansion, artificial‑intelligence triage, and tighter data integration to improve speed and reduce bureaucracy for retirees, pensioners and people with disabilities.