The Minister of Economy and Territorial Cohesion, Manuel Castro Almeida, has stated that there is a labour shortage in Portugal and that this may be one of the reasons for the housing shortage.
At the procedural hearing at the State Reform and Local Government Commission, the minister admitted that “many buildings are having difficulty going into the market due to a lack of labour.”
“When you talk to companies, many of them say, ‘No, it’s not a labour shortage, you’re just setting prices too low,’ and projects are only awarded, in some cases, after the second, third, fourth, or fifth round of bidding, with increasingly larger bid bases. My conviction is that there truly is a labour shortage. If labour were abundant, projects would be awarded at different prices,” he insisted before the deputies.
To address the labour shortage, the former mayor of São João da Madeira emphasised the importance of immigration, whether spontaneously or promoted by business associations or large companies that have “an easy way to integrate immigrants to work in Portugal.”
The minister said that this “easy way” only occurs if immigrants are guaranteed “a job, an employment contract, and a decent place to live.”
Although it started “very slowly,” the minister said that it is now “moving a little faster” and that “many people are already coming to Portugal this way, with faster integration processes” because they have secured jobs and housing.
In addition to these measures, the minister discussed cooperation with some Portuguese-speaking African countries, where vocational training is provided, and some of the trainees come to Portugal “already with training tailored to the needs of companies.”
