With unemployment at record lows, some sectors are short of hands and full of openings. Where the best opportunities are this year — and why languages give you an edge.

By Miguel Sarmento

Illustrative · Photo: Pexels

Portugal's +Emprego measure helps companies that hire unemployed jobseekers on permanent contracts. Here is who qualifies, the conditions and how to apply.

The +Emprego measure is a support from Portugal's public employment service (IEFP) for companies that sign a permanent, full-time contract with an unemployed jobseeker registered at the job centre. It lowers the cost of hiring on a stable basis — and the value of the support is tied to the IAS index, which in 2026 is 537.13 euros. It is an incentive for permanent hiring. The state covers part of the cost when a company genuinely creates a new job and…

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Empresa na Hora lets you incorporate a company at an IRN desk in under an hour for 360 euros. What's included, what documents to bring and what comes next.

Starting a company in Portugal can take less time than lunch: through the Empresa na Hora ("company in an hour") service, a company is incorporated at a single desk, in a single sitting, for 360 euros. It is probably the Portuguese public service most praised by newcomers — and in 2026 it remains the fastest route from idea to a company with a registration number. The base fee is 360 euros, paid on the spot, and it covers the essentials: the commercial…

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Registering as a freelancer with the Portuguese tax office is free, online and takes minutes. VAT, social security and first-year exemptions, explained.

Before you can issue your first recibo verde — Portugal's freelance invoice-receipt — there is one mandatory step: opening activity ("abrir atividade") with the tax office. The good news fits in a sentence: it is free, done online on the Portal das Finanças in under 15 minutes, and first-year exemptions soften the landing into self-employment considerably. On the Portal das Finanças, with your tax credentials, look for "Início de Atividade" and fill in…

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Programa Regressar halves your income tax for five years and adds an IEFP relocation grant that can top €6,500. 2026 is the last guaranteed year of the scheme — here's who qualifies.

The short answer: Portuguese emigrants who move back and become tax residents again can pay half the income tax (IRS) for five years and claim an IEFP grant towards the cost of the move — that's the Programa Regressar package, in force until December 31, 2026. If you've spent years putting the move off, the calendar has become an argument: 2026 is the scheme's last guaranteed year. The design is simple: it's for people who were previously tax resident in…

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Company applications for Portugal's IEFP internship schemes Estágios INICIAR and +Talento close at 18:00 on 30 July 2026, or when funding runs out. Here is how they work and who can apply.

The first application window for two IEFP internship schemes — Estágios INICIAR and Estágios +Talento — closes at 18:00 on 30 July. The window has been open since February, but there is a catch worth knowing: applications close earlier if the budget runs out first. If you have a vacancy to fill or an internship in your sights, do not leave it to the final week. They are support schemes from IEFP, Portugal's employment institute, in which the state…

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ACM will build an antimony refinery in Sines creating 150 highly qualified direct jobs and around 300 indirect ones. Operations are due to start in 2030.

Sines is getting an antimony refinery — and with it around 150 highly qualified direct jobs plus roughly 300 indirect ones. ACM — Alchemy & Critical Metals has reserved a 131,000-square-metre plot in the Sines Industrial and Logistics Zone (ZILS) for the plant, which is due to start operating in 2030. The company points to skilled roles — engineering, industrial operations, chemistry, maintenance — on top of the indirect employment a plant like this pulls…

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IEFP's AVANÇAR programme backs permanent hires of qualified young workers on 1,330+ euro salaries: up to 12,400 euros per contract plus social security cuts.

Hiring a qualified young worker on a permanent contract can be worth between 8,600 and 12,400 euros in direct support to a Portuguese company — plus half off its social security contributions. That is the offer behind AVANÇAR, the IEFP programme designed to pull young people off the carousel of precarious contracts and low starting salaries. The logic stands on three legs. The company receives between 8,600 and 12,400 euros for each permanent hire of a…

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Portugal's IRS Jovem gives a 100% income tax exemption in year one and runs 10 years for workers up to 35, capped at 29,542 euros. Rules and how to claim.

If you are up to 35 and working in Portugal, IRS Jovem can mean paying no income tax on your salary at all in year one — and less tax for a decade. The regime covers income up to 29,542.15 euros a year and no longer requires any diploma: age and the start of your working life are enough. Anyone up to 35 with employment income (salary) or self-employment income (recibos verdes), regardless of education — the degree requirement was dropped in 2025. The…

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Portugal's PRR has entered its final application cycle: €10,000 Coaching 4.0 vouchers and startup vouchers up to €30,000, 100% non-refundable, are still open.

There is still PRR money on the table for businesses in Portugal — but 2026 is the programme's last real application cycle, and calls close well before the programme ends. If you run a company or a startup, this is the moment to grab what's left, not to file it under "next year". Two stand out for their simplicity. Coaching 4.0 is a €10,000 voucher per company, 100% non-refundable, to hire digital-transformation services for your business model — 2,000…

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Camões, I.P. awards bachelor's and master's scholarships in Portugal to students from Portuguese Cooperation partner countries, mainly the PALOP and Timor-Leste. How they work and where to apply.

The direct answer: the scholarship programme run by Camões — Instituto da Cooperação e da Língua funds bachelor's and master's degrees at public higher-education institutions in Portugal, for citizens of Portuguese Cooperation partner countries — mainly the Portuguese-speaking African nations (PALOP) and Timor-Leste. Applications for the 2026/2027 academic year are under way, with each country running its own process and deadlines. The programme targets…

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CCDR Norte opened a competition for two senior technicians in spatial planning, with applications from 8 to 28 July 2026.

Anyone looking to enter the public sector in northern Portugal has a concrete vacancy on the table: the North Regional Coordination and Development Commission (CCDR Norte) has opened a competition for two senior technicians in its Spatial Planning and Sustainability Division, with applications from 8 to 28 July 2026. The competition is for senior technicians and falls within spatial planning and territorial sustainability — work tied to land-use planning…

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First-phase applications for Portugal's public higher education access competition run from 20 July to 6 August 2026, online only. Results are out on 23 August.

First-phase applications for Portugal's Concurso Nacional de Acesso — the national competition for places in public higher education — run from 20 July to 6 August 2026, exclusively online. If you have a student at home (or are one), these are the dates to carve into the fridge door: apply by 6 August, results on 23 August, complaints until the 28th. Everything happens on the DGES online system: candidates pick up to six course/institution pairs, ranked…

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Applications for Portugal's higher-education study grant for 2026/2027 run from 14 August to 2 October 2026 on the Be-On platform. Deadlines and steps.

The direct answer: applications for Portugal's higher-education study grant for the 2026/2027 academic year can be submitted between 14 August and 2 October 2026, exclusively online, on the DGES Be-On platform. That is a few weeks away — which is precisely why August goes smoothly for those who sort their paperwork in July. The main window runs from 14 August to 2 October 2026. Students who enrol in higher education after 2 October get 20 working days…

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Salaries in Portugal are set to rise about 3.4% in 2026, but the increase isn't shared equally. See which sectors are bidding up pay and where wages stall.

Salaries in Portugal are expected to rise about 3.4% on average in 2026 — solid on paper, but slower than 2025 (3.5%) and very uneven depending on where you work. It's the difference between being in a sector short of workers and one where candidates are plentiful. The average forecast is around 3.4%, with per-worker growth estimated near 4%. The detail is in the companies: nearly half (49.5%) cut their pay-rise budget versus the previous year, and only…

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