Portugal to streamline entry of foreigners to deal with labour shortages

Lisbob: The Minister of State and for Territorial Cohesion, Manuel Castro Almeida, said the government is attempting to streamline the entry of some workers from other countries.

He noted that the labour shortages with which Portugal is dealing remain an unresolved problem.

In a bid to deal with the labour shortages, Portugal is attempting to streamline the entry of foreign workers.

On December 23, the Minister of State and for Territorial Cohesion, Manuel Castro Almeida, said the government is trying to facilitate the entry of some workers from other countries due to labour shortages amid the need to complete many of the projects included in the PRR (Recovery and Resilience Plan).

Minister Almeida explained that over 40 per cent of the Recovery and Resilience plan had been executed, stressing that today, the fifth instalment from Brussels, worth €2.9 billion, was deposited today into the State’s coffers, quoted by Sic Noticias.

The Minister of State and for Territorial Cohesion said that over 40 per cent of the PRR will be implemented by the end of this year. Almeida stressed that at the beginning of April, the execution rate was just 20 per cent.

However, the Minister admits that the lack of manpower remains an unresolved problem. Workers who may be essential for executing contracts, such as the contracts signed today in Porto, related to works worth over €40 million in eight schools in the north of the country.

Portugal Aims to Issue Work Visas to Immigrants Within a Month

Earlier this month, the Minister of the Presidency of the Council of Ministers, António Leitão Amaro, said that Portugal aims to issue work visas to immigrants in less than a month in a bid to deal with labour shortages.

However, such goals for some people seem unachievable. In this regard, the lawyer Elizabeth Lima, who works in immigration, told Politico that the proposal of Portugal’s government is unrealistic.

Today, it takes months to get a visa. Just 50 more employees in the various consulates will not solve the problems. Portugal has many consulates.

According to her, there are not sufficient resources to permit authorities in Portugal to achieve the goal of granting visas within such a short timeframe.

In a bid to deal with labour shortages, Portugal needs more than 100,000 foreign workers. Such conclusions were reached in a study called Migrations and Human Rights, introduced by the General Union of Workers (UGT) earlier this year.

In this regard, the Coordinator of Migrations and Human Rights Study, Jorge Malheiros, said that in the context of low birth rates and an ageing population, the southern European country will need 50,000 to 100,000 workers regularly over time.

In a bid to attract a larger number of workers from other countries, the government of Portugal previously introduced new strategies that would accelerate the legal entry and stay of foreigners in Portugal for employment purposes.