Emprego +Talento pays up to 23,000 euros for hiring an unemployed graduate
The 2026 guide to Portugal's Emprego +Talento hiring subsidy: who can apply, which contracts count, how the top-ups work, and when applications close.
Apply / Learn moreA company that hires an unemployed young graduate on a permanent contract gets 9,668.34 euros from Portugal’s employment institute — and with every available top-up stacked, that rises to 23,204.02 euros. Applications to the Emprego +Talento measure are open until 15 December 2026, or until the budget runs out.
It sits quietly beside the better-known +Emprego scheme, with one important difference: this one is built purely for higher qualifications.
Who can hire under Emprego +Talento?
Companies and private entities, for-profit or not, plus sole traders. On the other side of the contract the conditions are two, with no wiggle room: the candidate must be 35 or younger, and hold a bachelor’s, master’s or doctorate (levels 6, 7 or 8 of the National Qualifications Framework). They must be registered as unemployed with the IEFP.
One detail matters a lot to people currently living abroad: young people who emigrated permanently at least 12 months ago and meet those conditions are also covered. If you are weighing a move back to Portugal, that is a useful line to bring into a conversation with an employer.
Which contracts qualify?
Only permanent, full-time contracts, with a base salary of at least 1,499.15 euros — the 2026 entry rate for a graduate in the Portuguese public administration. Fixed-term contracts and part-time roles do not count.
The employer also has to provide training during the support period: either in-house, with a named tutor and at least three months of supervision, or through a certified training body with a minimum of 40 hours.
How much does the employer actually receive?
The base is 18 times the Social Support Index, which sits at 537.13 euros in 2026. That gives 9,668.34 euros.
Four top-ups of 35% each can be added — 3,383.92 euros apiece. They apply when the hire is a young person with a disability, someone unemployed and registered for more than 12 months, a role located in an interior territory, or a profession where one gender is underrepresented. One top-up brings it to 13,052.26 euros. Two, 16,436.18. Three, 19,820.10. All four, 23,204.02 euros.
Payment comes in three instalments: 40% once the contracts start, 40% in the 13th month, and the final 20% the month after the contract reaches 24 months. This is a subsidy that requires the job to survive two years, not a cash injection.
Which rules catch employers out?
Three in particular. First, the job offer must be registered on the iefponline portal before the contract is signed, and it must flag the intention to apply — register the offer and remember the subsidy afterwards, and the process gets messy.
Second, there can have been no collective redundancies, post-elimination dismissals or dismissals for unsuitability in the three months before applying, and there must be net job creation. Swapping one person for another does not count.
Third, it cannot be combined with other direct hiring subsidies or with social security contribution waivers for the same post. It is one or the other.
Contracts are also invalid with anyone who worked at the company (or another in the same group) in the previous 12 months, or with shareholders, their spouses, or partners of company officers.
When is the deadline?
The window opened on 15 July 2026 and runs to 6pm on 15 December, with the usual caveat that it can close early if the budget is exhausted. Eligible job offers are those notified to the IEFP between 16 March and 2 December 2026, and the application must be submitted within 30 consecutive days of registering the offer.
Applications go through the iefponline portal, and registering the company requires authentication through Segurança Social Direta — sort that out early, because it is where most employers lose time.
If you are on the other side of the table, building a business rather than hiring for one, the route is in our Empresa na Hora guide; and anyone under 35 who has just signed a contract should check they are not leaving money behind under IRS Jovem.
Illustrative · Photo: ThisIsEngineering / Pexels
