Portugal: a desirable country
Portugal is a popular country in foreign eyes - mild climate, interesting culture, people who practice the art of hospitality, safe lifestyle and a high quality of life. These are the main determinants of Portugal's choice as a country to live in that attract thousands of migrants in search of a better opportunity.
SEF data for 2022 shows that Portugal registered more than 750,000 foreigners with residence, an increase verified for the seventh consecutive year and which represents 8.3% more registrations compared to 2021. According to SEF, the main resident foreign communities in Portugal are citizens from Brazil (233,138), the United Kingdom (36,639), Cape Verde (35,744), India (34,232), Italy (33,707), Angola (30,417), France (27,614), Ukraine (26,898), Romania (23,967) and Nepal (23,441). Due to the socio-political context, Portugal has also received refugees from Syria, Afghanistan, Venezuela and, more recently, Ukraine.
The reality of Wellow™ Group follows the registered trends: we have 46 nationalities present in our ecosystem and the top 5 foreign nationalities of our employees are Brazil, Guinea, Cape Verde, Angola and India.
Immigration and work: without the prejudice that "steals work
Immigrants play a key role in improving the efficiency of labour markets. Without the immigrant labour force, some economic sectors would have serious difficulties in surviving, since there are occupations that natives avoid (e.g. dirtier, more demanding, dangerous, poorly paid, unstable and precarious jobs) and in which immigrant workers are widely represented.
Fortunately, this is not the case in Portugal. It is among the European countries with the most favourable perceptions of the contribution of immigrants to the economy of the country (6.3 out of 10), recognising the positive impact on the ageing demographic situation (negative natural balance) and the dependence of some economic activities of the Portuguese labour market on the immigrant workforce. However, despite Portugal assuming the importance of migration for the labour market, the visible segmentation of the labour force has not been resolved - foreign workers are over-represented in some economic activities and sectors (particularly in the least qualified professional groups, with more precarious jobs, more exposed to instability in the labour relationship, with lower pay, and with a higher incidence of labour accidents). On the other hand, the data confirms that immigrants are also important generators of employment, showing themselves to be more entrepreneurial than nationals (since they have higher relative values of employers by total assets than Portuguese nationals).
The Role of Employers in Decent Migration
Recognising the important role of migration in the sustainability of the Portuguese economy, it is important to reflect on the role of employers in attracting, developing and retaining this workforce.
Bureaucratic and legal procedures
The existing processes for issuing residence visas and authorisations to work in Portugal have undergone changes aimed at improving them, but always with setbacks and obstacles that make these procedures lengthy, complex, inaccessible and not very agile. When we think that the people who carry them out are in a precarious situation, it is obvious the success of so many less scrupulous organisations that suggest ease and simplicity to these publics giving rise to cases of modern slavery, such as those widely spread in the media this last year.
It is up to the potential employer to be an agent for information and to facilitate access to the most appropriate entities so that this barrier can be overcome - Wellow™ is an integral member of local networks such as Oeiras Solidarity and a partner of the ACM - High Commission for Migrations and provides all candidates with up-to-date information on their rights and duties as workers in Portugal.
Language barrier
Despite the ease of speaking other languages that characterises the Portuguese, there is no doubt that proficiency in the Portuguese language is an asset for anyone wishing to live and work in this country. There are various options of Portuguese courses for foreigners with different levels of investment required.
Even so, the potential employer may contribute by removing barriers to communication - for example, by translating websites, institutional pieces and other channels into languages other than Portuguese or by providing alternative channels that are capable of being attended to in another language. It is also important to reinforce the importance of providing relevant information in other languages, such as information contained in an employment contract (even if it is signed in its Portuguese version) or even on rules of conduct, rights and duties or work procedures. Wellow™ has been implementing several improvements regarding its communication channels, namely through the translation of all its websites into English language and seeking to organise translation efforts of internal material such as Codes of Good Practices of Ethical Conduct among others.
Logistical aspects of daily life
One of the major differences inherent in migrant recruitment projects is the concern that goes beyond the constraints of employment. If, in the case of native recruitment, the interaction with the candidate is mostly based on his/her qualifications, skills and previous relevant experiences, in the case of migrant recruitment, issues such as food, accommodation, transport and even the local support network are equally relevant and predictors of the success of the labour integration of these people.
In the reality of Wellow™, we seek to create processes that facilitate the integration into the labour market of these populations, as is the example of our accommodation in S. Bartolomeu de Messines with capacity for about 80 people and that presents decent conditions of stay for this fundamental reinforcement to the response capacity of Talenter™ in the critical period of work in the Algarve.
There is certainty that the employer's role goes beyond the basics of hiring and compliance with the law when we talk about migration and labour. It requires empathy, resources and cultural intelligence to understand the migrant's contexts and develop the best practices that allow their real integration into a team, an organisation, a society.
By Rita Duarte | Chief People's Officer at Wellow™ Group
