Key sectors such as tourism and construction are lacking 140,000 workers

Key economic and expanding sectors continue to find it difficult to bolster their staff number, despite recent economic growth.

Portuguese companies have a strong desire to grow, but continue to struggle with labour shortages in key sectors of the economy. In construction and real estate alone, 70,000 workers are missing, a figure that rises to 140,000 if the housing, catering, metalwork, and textile industries are added. Only the footwear industry is the odd one out, having no large immediate needs in regards to worker employment.

In construction, the situation is truly worrying. Touristic meccas such as the Algarve, Lisbon, and Porto are perfect locations for construction companies to thrive, thanks to the numerous well-off foreigners looking to build a home in the sun or take advantage of Portugal’s golden visa system.

However, the reality is less optimistic. In the last quarterly survey by the Association of Construction and Public Works Industrialists (AICCOPN) 74% of companies pointed out a severe lack of skilled labour as "one of the biggest constraints to the business activity".

Reis Campos, president of the AICCOPN, calls for a "special transnational scheme" that will take professionals wanting to work in Portuguese construction companies and give them improved vocational training.

Mr. Campos explains that schools are largely to blame for the shortage, who “guide students to vocational courses that do not correspond to actual needs of the economy.”

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