Coordinator of the Emigration Observatory argues that the country should facilitate the entry of foreigners to solve the problem of lack of labor .
The coordinator of the Emigration Observatory defended today that Portugal “desperately needs” immigrants and, in order to solve the problem of lack of manpower, should facilitate the entry of foreigners and make recruitment campaigns abroad.
For the sociologist Rui Pena Pires, the demographic problem that Portugal and Europe face from lack of manpower in some sectors is only solved with more immigration. A path that has to be done quickly under penalty of not being made to walk towards “suicide,” he warned.
This is a complicated issue today, in the face of the nationalist movements that are emerging a bit throughout Europe, but if they do not have more immigrants, Portugal and Europe are committing suicide , ” he told Lusa.
The country “desperately needs immigrants” and spends “too much time talking about birth problems,” he said.
However, Pena Pires argued that it is necessary to “create the conditions for the parents to take care of their children”, being certain that it will not be through policies for the birth that will solve immediately a problem of lack of existing labor in many sectors.
“The demographic dynamics of the birth rate and mortality have no short-term consequences,” he said.
In order to attract immigrants, the country needs, according to the professor and sociologist, to put fewer obstacles to the entry of foreigners, but also to “have active recruiting policies abroad”.
Considering the current problems facing countries, from nationalist movements to large flows of immigration, Pena Pires points to positive examples from Canada and Australia. “They have a 30% weight of immigration with great stability and viable in every respect. They are prosperous and peaceful countries.”
According to Vítor Antunes, executive director of Manpower, responsible for recruitment for temporary work, and one of the oldest operating in the Portuguese market in this area, Portugal needs “workforce in general and talent.”
To combat the problem, he has to do so, “not only by the return of some emigrants, but also by immigration,” he said.
Specialized profiles, ie electricians, welders, mechanics, and technicians, such as drivers, engineers, computer scientists, teachers, people for customer support areas, lawyers and researchers, project managers and some administrative staff, are professional classes with more human resources shortages, he said.
Information supported by a recent Manpower study, the “Talent Shortage Survey,” which indicates that 46% of domestic companies have experienced above-average difficulties to recruit the right talent for what they needed, the largest increase since 2016, and 35% admitted that candidates do not have the necessary skills for posts, “which has been hampering the recruitment and selection process.”
According to the same document, the ranking of the most wanted profiles is led by specialized professionals and technicians, drivers and engineers.
“These are professions that are constantly changing and whose performance requires some technical and technological knowledge,” said Vitor Antunes.
The businessman António Mota, owner of Mota-Engil, a company with business in several countries in the construction sector, one of the affected by the lack of manpower, predicts that if development in Portugal continues to be verified, the country will “need of semi-specialized and specialized labor “.
Portugal needs a lot of manpower and it needs that they return their emigrating pictures , ” defended the businessman.
For the construction sector, “a lack of personnel and labor is being imported from various sources,” he said.
According to Pena Pires, “Portugal must have another ticket policy. Because the country … needs regular immigration. ”
“For this we have to put fewer obstacles to entry processes, but also to take the initiative to recruit in several countries,” he said.
“Immigrants from Lusophone space always have an advantage that is that of language, which greatly facilitates integration,” but there are other origins where Portugal today can recruit, concluded the sociologist.
