This study analyzes the demands for professional qualification from employers and workers in Recife, during the second half of the 19th century. We have compiled documentation related to Recife newspapers of the time; documents of employers' associations in the city, publications of workers' organizations and government documents. We have concluded that the urbanization of Recife did not result in new demands of professionals, although there was a governmental discourse in defense of spaces designed to vocational instruction. The lack of action of workers and employers aimed at vocational qualification can be explained by the incipient industrialization. It was found that the criteria for hiring were not related directly to the activity to be developed. Employers' requirements concerned sex, color, age, moral conduct, indicating that, even if there was a demand for know-how, there were not specific criteria related to profession demanded.
Recife; professional qualification; 19th century