Belo Horizonteruns on a handful of strong industries. If you’re job-hunting or weighing a move, here’s where the opportunities (and the big-name employers) are.
Top industries & employers
Mining & metals
Vale, Anglo American, CSN Mineração, Gerdau, Usiminas
Belo Horizonte sits on the edge of the Quadrilátero Ferrífero, the iron ore district that made Minas Gerais. The corporate, engineering and environmental compliance functions are in the city; the mines are an hour away, and the Mariana and Brumadinho dam failures reshaped the whole sector's regulation.
Technology & startups
Hotmart, Sympla, Take Blip, Rock Content, Méliuz
San Pedro Valley, centred on the São Pedro, Savassi and Funcionários districts, is the largest Brazilian startup community outside São Paulo — over three hundred companies, one unicorn in Hotmart, and several listed on the B3 exchange.
Automotive
Stellantis (Fiat) Betim, suppliers across the metropolitan region
The Betim plant on the city's western edge is one of the largest car factories in the world by output and anchors a supplier network across greater Belo Horizonte.
Health & clinical services
Hospital das Clínicas UFMG, Mater Dei, Hermes Pardini, Biomm
A genuine medical cluster — Mater Dei is one of the largest private hospital groups in the country and Hermes Pardini built a national clinical laboratory business from here.
Higher education & research
UFMG, PUC Minas, CEFET-MG, Fundação Ezequiel Dias
UFMG is one of Brazil's strongest federal universities and the reason the startup ecosystem exists — most of San Pedro Valley's founders came out of its engineering and computing schools.
Energy, services & consumer
Cemig, Localiza, BDMG, Grupo Anima
Localiza, headquartered here, runs one of the largest vehicle rental fleets in the world outside the United States, and Cemig is one of Brazil's biggest electricity utilities — both substantial white-collar employers unconnected to mining.
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