In Brazil, where labour laws are rigid and government tends to take an active interest in the fortunes of big private sector employers, mass redundancies are extremely rare.

So it came as a shock this year when Embraer, the formerly government-controlled aircraft manufacturer, cut 4,200 workers – about 20 per cent of its workforce of 21,350. The shock was that much greater because the government kept a “golden share” in the company at privatisation in 1996 and retains a seat on its board.