Between 2017 and 2021, the latest year for which data is available, the number of migrant workers in mainland Portugal increased to 228.1 thousand, which already represents 7.8% of the national labor force. There are now more than 88,200 foreigners in Portuguese companies, according to the 2022 Employment and Training Report from the Labor Relations Center of the Ministry of Labour, released this Wednesday. Immigrants of Brazilian and Asian nationality dominate.
Two years ago, about 32.5% of foreign workers came from Brazil, 20.7% from Asia, 17.2% from Portuguese-speaking African countries (PALOP), and 14% from the European Union, according to the same report, which indicates that “between 2020 and 2021, the total number of foreigners, despite an increase of 4.7%, did not have an equal impact in terms of different nationalities”. For example, immigrants with the largest weight in the total number of registered foreigners are declining for the most part, in particular Spaniards, who have decreased by 15.6%, Romanians, who have decreased by 7.8%, and Ukrainians (minus 6 .1%). . It is likely that these statistics have evolved in the opposite direction, namely with regard to foreigners of Ukrainian origin, as the last year analyzed – 2021 – marked the beginning of the Russian war in Ukraine. With the conflict, many workers from that country moved to other countries, including Portugal.
The Center for Labor Relations study also shows that in 2021 there was an increase of 1,600 workers born in Brazil in 2021 and an increase of 1,300 people of Indian nationality.
By sector of activity, in 2021, 22.2% of these foreigners worked in the administrative activities and support services sector, followed by housing, hospitality and the like (15.7%), construction (11.2%), trade wholesale and retail (10, 7%) and manufacturing industry (10.5%). Compared to the previous year, the number of immigrants increased in all industries, with the exception of agriculture, livestock, hunting and related services, forestry and forestry, which registered a decrease of about 4%, with fewer 752 foreigners.
Looking at the evolution over the five years, between 2017 and 2021, the report shows that there are more foreign workers in all sectors without exception, with this increase reflected more in administrative activities and support services, which are more than employed 20.2 thousand immigrants; in construction, with more than 13,800 foreigners; in the manufacturing industry, which employed more than 10,500 workers; in agriculture, livestock, hunting and related service activities, forestry and forest exploitation, where there was an increase of eight thousand foreign workers; in wholesale and retail, with over 7.7 thousand people; and in housing, catering and the like, which provided employment for more than 6,400 immigrants.
“In 2021, 33.5% of foreign workers had completed secondary or post-secondary education and 29.7% had completed the 3rd cycle of primary education,” the same study states.
The number of companies fell, according to the personnel figures of the Ministry of Labor. But INE data, including individual entrepreneurs, points to an increase of 41,100 companies between 2020 and 2021.
The report also paints a portrait of companies operating in Portugal, excluding sole proprietorships, based on Ministry of Labor personnel for 2021, the most recent year for which data is available. It is therefore concluded that there are fewer 5.8 thousand companies.
“In 2021, 271.8 thousand companies responded to the workforce, about 5.8 thousand fewer than in 2020. Despite a slight increase in 2018, the number of companies has shown a downward trend in recent years,” the document says. However, the report does not explain what accounts for this drop of about 2% between 2020 and 2021: be it bankruptcies, mergers or closures due to the impact of the pandemic covid-19 crisis.
Despite this workforce decline, data from the 2021 National Institute of Statistics (INE) Integrated System of Accounts of Companies shows a different reality, which was also analyzed by the Center for Labor Relations. After all, these statistics, which already include individual companies, show that two years ago there were 1.34 million companies on the continent, 3.2% more, which corresponds to about 41.1 thousand more companies than in 2020.
Analyzing the five years between 2021 and 2017, “there is an upward trend in the number of firms, despite the slight decline in 2020,” the Center for Labor Relations’ 2022 Employment and Vocational Training report points out.
Salomé Pinto is a journalist for Dinheiro Vivo
Source: DN
