“Recognising that there are several challenges in the process of hiring foreign workers residing in Portugal”, the government has launched a set of measures that include interviews, personalised monitoring and direct support in the training of immigrants, explains the Secretary of State for Labor, Adriano Rafael Moreira.

In the introduction, the government recognises that it is “fundamental to welcome and integrate the immigrant population given the ageing population and the shortage of workers in many professional areas and strategic sectors of the economy”.

The July changes to the law on foreigners limited access to the job market to those who only had a tourist visa, with the government's strategy focusing on facilitating visas for citizens of the Community of Portuguese-speaking countries and creating a visa for seeking work, which “allows third-country nationals who come to seek work to enter Portuguese territory for an initial period of 120 days”.

The existence of more immigrants “increases the pressure on the different public services that intervene in the integration process, and in particular on the public employment service” and, according to the Institute of Employment and Vocational Training (IEFP), at the end of 2023, the number of registered foreigners “represented 18% of the total unemployment registered on the mainland”.

“This number has been increasing significantly in recent years, reaching 57,808 registered people in April 2024”, the ordinance reads.

It is up to the government to “provide rapid support in the reception” and the IEFP has “a decisive role, both in the search for employment and in raising awareness among employers of the potential human resources that this high number of unemployed people represents”.

However, the “lack of proficiency in the Portuguese language, recognition of academic and professional qualifications and technical skills adapted to the needs of the job market, as well as skills that facilitate the search for employment, are often obstacles”, states the government, also highlighting the inability to earn a living that “allows them to dedicate themselves to learning”.

Therefore, the Integrar program “aims to promote the reception and integration of immigrant workers and unemployed people, alleviating cultural limitations in the active search for employment and developing social and professional skills that facilitate entry into the job market, namely through active employment measures”.

The program may cover foreigners registered with the IEFP who are “unemployed or looking for their first job” or who are registered and want to change their profession or have access to professional training.

The IEFP is responsible for defining “a specific methodology for intervention with immigrants”, using resources that already exist for other Portuguese citizens, and should boost “its network of partners, namely trade unions, business associations, employers, local authorities, local and regional development associations and associations representing migrant communities from third countries, with a view to increasing employment and professional training opportunities that enhance integration into the job market”.

The IEFP will carry out an “initial diagnosis of the immigrant’s profile, needs and expectations, supported by an individual face-to-face interview”, help to “define an adjusted personal employment plan”, an “individual training plan” and Portuguese language teaching activities when necessary, among other measures.

This monitoring “also includes identifying the educational and professional qualifications held by the immigrant, informing and directing, if necessary, to processes for equivalence or recognition of diplomas or qualifications, as well as identifying missing skills, with a view to participation in professional training”, states the ordinance.

Furthermore, whenever the immigrant and employer profiles are adjusted, the IEFP will “monitor the job interviews”.

In parallel, the IEFP will develop training actions with immigrants, to “reinforce their knowledge of their rights and duties before the public employment services, especially when they receive unemployment benefits” and other issues of the program.

Whenever possible, “the sessions will be developed in a language that is understandable by the immigrant group or, at least, in English or French, including the use of automatic translation systems developed through Intelligent Translation”, often with partners, including services from the Agency for Integration, Migration and Asylum (AIMA), the ordinance states.

The operationalisation of this program will have to be presented by the IEFP next month, the ordinance also states.