It aimed to identify the difficulties and confronting strategies regarding to the labor management in the Family Health Strategy (ESF). Exploratory and qualitative study, whose data were collected in 2011, through semi-structured interviews with managers of the municipalities of Rio de Janeiro (RJ) and Duque de Caxias (RJ), and subjected to content analysis. There are difficulties: precarious infrastructure and low income. Strategies for attracting and professional fixing include: improvements in infrastructure and qualification. The consolidation of the ESF in the metropolis has a potential of awakening changes in the model of care that contribute for the materialization of the health as a social right.
Primary Health Care; Family Health Strategy; Human resources for health management; Human resources for health; Metropolis