The participation of foreign employees in the Portuguese workforce fell by nearly 5% last year compared to 2019, according to Dinheiro Vivo. This is the first time this figure dropped since 2017.
The news outlet determined these figures using data from Instituto Nacional de Estatística (INE – National Statistics Institute). Data shows that while the fall in employment rates affected the broader population, immigrants faced the greatest brunt of this loss. Portuguese nationals experienced a loss of 1.9%, while foreign nationals saw a decline of 4.8%, Dinheiro Vivo reports.
The study also showed that the foreign workforce is younger when compared to Portuguese nationals. INE’s figures indicate that foreign workers between the ages of 15 to 34 represent 40% of this demographic’s working population. This is considerably more than the equivalent age group among Portuguese citizens, which is 24%.
The foreign workforce is proportionately more educated than the Portuguese workforce, with a higher percentage having a high school education compared to its Portuguese counterpart. And the percentage of both groups that have university degrees are more similar to one another, the periodical reports.
However, when it comes to wages, foreign nationals have a lower net monthly income than Portuguese nationals.
