This article analyzes the configuration of the active civil servant workforce of the Brazilian government during Fernando Henrique Cardoso - FHC - (1995-2002) and Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva - Lula - (2003-2010) mandates. The article associates the condition of the workforce of the Brazilian government with the changes in the government coalition. The residual participation of the Ministry of Health (MOH) in the direct provision of public services influenced the downward trend of the federal workforce.The implementation of the Unified Health System (SUS) was strongly affected by the structural adjustment of the workforce at the federal level during the decades of 1990 and 2000.
State reform; Macroeconomic adjustment; Civil servants; State bureaucracy; Lula; Unified Heath System
