THE JOB MARKET IN PORTUGAL
Portugal is a very popular destination for French people wishing to expatriate. Proximity, living environment, economic development, tax advantages, etc. Moreover, the economic situation of Portugal also facilitates the search for employment with many opportunities in certain sectors.
The Portuguese market
Portugal has recovered from a difficult period in economic level and is now on the right track. The active population of Portugal represents 5,226,900 people. The unemployment rate is decreasing significantly. In fact, this one was in August 2018 of 6.4%.
More and more international companies are setting up in Portugal and are looking for multilingual profiles to join their teams. You come with a significant advantage, which is a perfect command of a highly sought-after foreign language. French in this case. With this asset, it is much easier to find a job.
Consulting, tourism, technology, health: sectors that recruit
Jobs are mainly concentrated in the Lisbon and Porto regions. But which sectors are recruiting?
WebHelp for example, is constantly looking for new collaborators. In this type of company where you will often work for international groups, being bilingual is a real asset.
Portugal is a very touristic country. This is logical, everything related to tourism, hotel and restaurant business is in development. Companies in these sectors are also constantly looking for multilingual profiles in their teams.
Lisbon is defined as the new European Silicon Valley with the installation of Amazon, Natixis (is actually located in Porto) or the holding of the Web Summit since 2016, The new technologies sector is also listening and looking for new talents.
Finally, private clinics and hospitals suffer from a real lack of personnel. The situation is similar for physicians (general practitioners and some specialists). Portugal is an ideal destination for professionals in this field. In addition, the possibility of working as a freelancer with rates that you set can be advantageous.
Working conditions in Portugal
With a legal working week of 39 hours (maximum 48 hours). However, Portuguese people often work on Sundays, especially in call-centers and in the restaurant and shopping industry, which could lead you to do so as well. The conditions are a bit harder, but compensated by a much better working environment than in the center of Paris for example.
The main criticism levelled at Portugal is the pay. Indeed, the legal minimum is well below the rest of the EU. It is 700,00€ gross in 2019. However, rest assured, a French employee is often offered a higher salary around 1000,00 €/month to 1500,00 €/month for an employee qualified. This remuneration is also to be put in perspective with the cost of living, which is much lower than in France.
As far as paid vacations are concerned, Portugal's labor law grants 22 days with the possibility of a bonus of 3 days in case of perfect attendance. The legal retirement age is 65 and you can legally start working at 16.
The Portuguese job market is quite open with sectors and companies full of future recruiting. They are often looking for new talent and the advantage of coming from France allows you to master a foreign language which is an important asset. This does not, of course, exempt you from learning Portuguese.
All these things will make it easy for you to find what you are looking for if you want to move to the banks of the Douro or to the heart of Lisbon.
