Portugal

Portugal is a country of 11.4 million people with an employment rate above the EU average: 79.6% of people aged 20–64 have a job (EU: 76.1%).

Unemployment has been fairly stable – 6.2% in 2022, 6.5% in 2023 and 2024 and 6.0% in 2025, exactly the EU average. Young people find it harder: youth unemployment is 19.5% among people aged 15–24, compared with 15.2% in the EU.

As an EU/EEA or Swiss citizen you do not need a work permit – you can move, look for a job and work on the same terms as Portuguese citizens. Portuguese helps a lot, but if you do not speak it, you can send your CV in English.

According to EURES, the occupation groups with the biggest shortages in Portugal are health professionals, metal, machinery and related trades and information and communications technology (ICT) professionals. Jobs often mentioned:

• health – nurses and midwives, general and specialist doctors, physiotherapists,
• engineering and IT – civil engineers, IT specialists and software programmers (especially in Lisbon and Alentejo),
• skilled trades – welders and CNC operators (North), electrical line installers, agricultural and industrial machinery mechanics, construction workers such as carpenters, plumbers and electricians,
• transport and services – bus and tram drivers, contact-centre staff who speak French or Spanish (North).

There are more candidates than jobs among business and administration associate professionals, legal, social and cultural professionals and sales workers.

Tourism is strongly seasonal, especially in the Algarve, and farms there need fruit pickers from February to June. Information and communication has the highest vacancy rate of all sectors.

The public employment service IEFP (Instituto do Emprego e Formação Profissional) has a network of 83 local employment services. Start here:

• iefponline – the IEFP portal: job offers all over Portugal, internships and training; register and upload your CV to apply,
• EURES – the EU job portal, plus EURES advisers in your home country and in Portugal,
• BEP (Bolsa de Emprego Público) – vacancies in the public administration.

Many jobs in Portugal are never advertised, so speculative applications – sending your CV to companies that interest you – are one of the best ways to get noticed. Company websites and personal contacts are worth using too.

For step-by-step advice on job search, CVs and interviews in any EU country, see our How to find a job abroad – 10 practical guides.

A Portuguese application usually contains:

• a CV in reverse chronological order, one or two pages long; a photo is often appreciated. If you do not speak Portuguese, you can write it in English. The Europass CV works well,
• a short, simple cover letter – never longer than one A4 page.

The interview is the main selection method. Employers focus on your professional experience and on how much you know about the company – prepare examples and read about the firm beforehand.

Diplomas: for most jobs the employer judges your qualifications. Foreign higher-education degrees can be recognised through the Directorate-General for Higher Education (DGES) – automatic, level or specific recognition, applied for online. For regulated professions (e.g. doctors, nurses, engineers) you need professional recognition; the Assistance Centre for Professional Qualifications helps, and you can start the procedure before you move. See also Your Europe on recognition of professional qualifications.

• Minimum wage (retribuição mínima mensal garantida): €920 a month from 1 January 2026 (Decree-Law 139/2025).
• 14 payments a year: besides 12 monthly salaries you are entitled to a holiday allowance (subsídio de férias), normally paid before your holidays, and a Christmas allowance (subsídio de Natal, the “13th month”) worth one month’s pay, paid by 15 December. That is why Eurostat shows the minimum wage as €1,073 a month spread over 12 months.
• Collective agreements can set better pay and conditions for a sector – ask which one applies to your job.
• Working time: normally at most 8 hours a day and 40 hours a week.
• Holidays: at least 22 working days of paid leave a year. In your first year you earn 2 working days per month of your contract (up to 20 days), which you can take after 6 full months of work.
• Help: the labour inspectorate ACT answers questions about your rights on 300 069 300 (weekdays 9:00–12:30).

Students from the EU/EEA and Switzerland can work in Portugal without any permit, just like Portuguese students.

• IEFP traineeships (Estágios ATIVAR.PT): paid professional traineeships of 9 months (exceptionally up to 12) for young people and other job-seekers – eligibility depends on the programme, and offers are listed on iefponline.
• Summer jobs for students (PEJENE): short placements of 2–3 months in the summer.
• Public administration (EstágiAP XXI): 9-month traineeships in public bodies; INOV Contacto offers international traineeships of 6–9 months.
• Seasonal jobs in tourism and fruit picking, especially in the Algarve.

Students from outside the EU with a residence permit for studies may work – as employees or self-employed – alongside their studies.

Thinking of studying there first? See Studying in Portugal – practical information.

1. Registration certificate (certificado de registo de cidadão da UE): if you stay longer than 3 months, apply within 30 days after the first 3 months at the town hall (Câmara Municipal) where you live. You need your ID card or passport and a signed statement that you work in Portugal. It takes at least one month to issue and is valid for up to five years.
2. Tax number (NIF): apply at a tax office (Serviço de Finanças). You need it for your job contract, a bank account and renting a flat.
3. Social security number (NISS): apply when you start work.
4. Health service: register at your local health centre (Centro de Saúde) to get your National Health Service (SNS) user number.
5. Tax: under IRS Jovem (since 2025) young people up to 35 who are not dependants pay no income tax on 100% of their work income in their first year, 75% in years 2–4, 50% in years 5–7 and 25% in years 8–10 – up to a yearly cap of 55 times the social support index (IAS).
6. Bank account: salaries are normally paid by bank transfer.

Problems with your rights as an EU worker? Your Europe Advice and SOLVIT help for free.

If you are not an EU/EEA or Swiss citizen, you need a visa and a residence permit to work. The main routes:

• Job-seeker visa (visto para procura de trabalho): valid for 120 days; you may work while it is valid, and once you have a job you apply for a residence permit with an appointment set in the visa.
• Residence permit for employment – with a job contract or offer; it is valid for 2 years and can be renewed for 3 years at a time.
• Graduates of Portuguese higher education who held a student residence permit can change to a residence permit to work in Portugal.
• Highly qualified jobs – separate residence permits for highly qualified activity and for jobs at certified tech companies (“Tech Visa”).

All permits, documents and fees are explained by the Agency for Integration, Migration and Asylum: aima.gov.pt.

• Eurostat – population on 1 January, unemployment by age, employment rate (data for 2025 and 2026),
• EURES – Living and working conditions: Portugal, labour market information: Portugal,
• IEFP – iefp.pt, iefponline; public administration – Bolsa de Emprego Público,
• DGERT – minimum wage for 2026,
• Diário da República – Labour Code, article 264 (holiday pay and allowance), Christmas allowance,
• gov.pt – working in Portugal (working time, holidays),
• AIMA – registration certificate for EU citizens, job-seeker visa, residence permit for students,
• Portal das Finanças – IRS Jovem,
• DGES – recognition of foreign degrees,
• Your Europe – working abroad, recognition of professional qualifications.

Updated: October 2026.