These are some of the conclusions presented in the study "Myths and Realities About Migration and the Labour Market," released by Randstad Research, which examined popular assertions about immigrants in Portugal.

"In this study, the focus is on demystifying common perceptions and reinforcing the facts about the relationship between migration and the labour market in Portugal," explain the authors of this study, which considered immigrants and foreigners residing in the country.

To conduct the study, the authors used data from the Ministry of Labour, Solidarity and Social Security, the Institute of Employment and Vocational Training (IEFP), the National Institute of Statistics (INE), and Eurostat.

In their demographic portrait of the foreign population in Portugal, the study authors indicate that Portugal had a foreign active population of 346,800 at the end of 2024, of which 302,200 were employed and 44,600 were unemployed.

Within the employed population, 51.3% were men and 48.7% were women. Lisbon, with 43.8%, was home to almost half of the unemployed foreigners in Portugal, followed by the North (21.2%) and the Algarve (14.3%).

Data analysed by Randstad Research indicates that foreigners "are more represented in certain sectors with a recognized talent shortage in Portugal," notably agriculture (6.2% of foreign workers), hospitality (18.3%), administrative activities and support services (including cleaning, with 20.8%), and construction (12%), categories in which Portuguese workers have respective shares of 2.4%, 8.7%, 9.8%, and 8.4%.

Conversely, the document states, in sectors such as industry, commerce and vehicle repair, transportation and storage, and consulting and scientific activities, the proportion of foreigners is consistently lower than that of Portuguese workers. Public administration, education, and healthcare also stand out, where only 6% of foreigners work in Portugal, compared to 11.8% of Portuguese workers.

Barriers

The authors believe this difference can be explained by barriers to qualification recognition, language requirements, or the need for nationality.

The analysis also concluded that temporary and part-time employment is higher among foreigners, with approximately one in three (35.8%) having temporary employment contracts in 2024, compared to 15.9% of the total population.

Part-time employment was also more prevalent among immigrant workers (11.2%) than among the total population in Portugal (8.1%).

Qualifications

Regarding qualifications, the authors noted that, "contrary to common perceptions," a significant portion of the foreign-born population residing in Portugal has high qualifications, with 31.6% of foreigners having higher education and 43.6% secondary and post-secondary education, above the European averages of 27.4% and 32%, respectively.

However, despite Portugal attracting talent, the analysts' conclusions are that their qualifications are not being utilised, with a higher level of over-qualification among foreign workers (42.8%), compared to 15.7% in the total population.

Another item analysed even states that foreigners "are disproportionately concentrated in less-skilled jobs, regardless of their qualification level," with more than half in unskilled jobs (29.7%) and in personal services, protection, and sales (22.4%), compared to 14.6% and 21% in the general population.

There is still a lower representation in professions requiring higher qualifications and responsibility, such as intellectual and scientific fields, technical fields, and intermediate-level professions.

Significant contribution

Regarding the impact of immigrants on Social Security systems, the document states that they "contribute significantly to sustainability" and highlights the evolution in recent years, in which the balance between contributions and benefits received has always been positive, reaching a maximum of 2.958 billion euros last year, resulting from contributions of 3.645 billion euros and benefits received of 687 million euros.

Despite having an unemployment rate (11.9%) higher than that of the total population in Portugal (6.6%), the proportion of long-term unemployed among immigrants is 16.7 percentage points lower than that of the total population, meaning that they have "a greater capacity for faster integration into the labour market."

At the same time, the unemployment rate is more seasonal than that of the total population, which also indicates "persistent challenges in their full and equitable integration into the labour market."

Randstad Research acknowledges that the foreign population with legal resident status has grown and is reaching "unprecedented levels," surpassing 1.04 million people in 2023, while the number of permanent immigrants has grown to 177,557, a "drastic contrast with the annual inflows of the 2010s."

The study states that Portugal has been a destination for several waves of migration for decades, but that "from the mid-2010s onward, and particularly sharply since 2017, the number of foreigners has skyrocketed," having almost tripled over the last decade.

"The reality is that this intensity and volume of arrivals have profoundly transformed the Portuguese demographic landscape in record time," the authors state.

Another difference highlighted by the report's authors is the age of the immigrant population, with more than half (55%) between 20 and 44 years old, compared to 29% for all residents in Portugal.

"This concentration of immigrants in working age groups is vitally important for a country like Portugal, which faces one of the most pronounced demographic ageing processes in Europe, with a low birth rate and an increase in average life expectancy," they note.