Opportunities 4 November 2026

Need work before Christmas? Shops and warehouses in Portugal are hiring about 4,000 people this month

Randstad expects 3,433 hires in retail and 511 in transport and warehousing in November alone, driven by Black Friday and Christmas. Adecco has had more than 1,500 openings live since 2 November, mostly around Lisbon, Porto and the south bank of the Tagus. Who is hiring, for what, and where to apply.

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If you need work before Christmas, November is the month to look. Black Friday, Cyber Monday and the December rush will put almost 4,000 people into jobs in Portugal this month alone, according to an estimate by the recruitment firm Randstad, built on data from the national statistics office (INE) and the public employment service (IEFP).

The figures, reported by ECO, split across two sectors: 3,433 hires in retail and 511 in transport and warehousing. That adds up to 3,944, a 0.41% rise in employment across the two sectors on October, close to the November average of the past twelve years (0.45%).

What the jobs are

In shops: sales assistants, shelf stackers, cashiers and customer-service staff. In warehouses and distribution: warehouse operatives, order pickers (the people who gather the items for each online order), forklift drivers and delivery drivers.

Most are temporary contracts covering November and December. Randstad points out, though, that the season is often a route into a permanent contract early the following year.

Where to apply now

Adecco opened its Christmas campaign on 2 November with more than 1,500 openings nationwide, clustered in Greater Lisbon, Porto and the Margem Sul, the towns south of the Tagus. Roles range from shop and warehouse operative to promoter, shelf stacker, stock-taker, delivery driver and restaurant and counter staff. Applications go through Adecco’s Christmas jobs page.

What does it pay?

Neither firm has published pay. The legal floor is the national minimum wage, which is 920 euros gross a month in 2026 for full-time hours. On a two-month contract, three questions are worth asking up front: the hourly rate, whether a meal allowance is included, and what weekend and night shifts pay, since that is when warehouses are busiest.

Randstad itself has a word for employers: technology does not take away the physical and mental strain of packing and shipping orders against tight deadlines. If you apply, ask about shifts, breaks and transport, especially for warehouses outside the cities.

By Miguel Sarmento

Image: RickMorais / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 4.0)

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