Entrepreneurs in the hotel, agricultural and construction sectors in Portugal are worried about the lack of labor and continue to wait for promises of a return to the flow of immigrants, suspended with the end of expressions of interest in June.
Portugal has “a chronic lack of labor” that “Only foreigners compensate for it”the president of the Portuguese Farmers Confederation told Lusa, considering that the end of expressions of interest – a legal resource that allowed regularization for those who arrived with a tourist visa and began to work – showed the lack what immigrants do to the Portuguese economic fabric.
“In recent months we have seen a recognition of this reality. I think that today all parties recognize that the Portuguese economy needs foreign labor, which did not happen a few months ago,” said Álvaro Mendonça e Moura.
However, “we have to create conditions in the country to welcome them with dignity” and it is also necessary to “put into operation the State bodies competent in this matter,” said the former ambassador, who highlighted the hiring of 50 employees for the General Directorate of Consular Affairs, to be placed in positions issuing emigrants.
“The process is underway, it is already underway” and “I understand that it will take a period of months” until “things start to work,” said the leader, who also asks for more “speed” from the Integration and Migration Agency. and Asylum (AIMA) in the management of pending processes.
The president of the CAP praised the recent decision of parliament to create “a transitional regime”which allows the regularization of those who were already in Portugal but did not yet meet all the requirements for the request for expression of interest.
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“There were people in Portugal who contributed to social security, in some cases they even paid taxes and then they could not regularize their situation,” he recalls.
Regarding the hotel and tourism sector, there are “seasonal and production peaks”, Therefore, for now “there is still no direct effect of the end of expressions of interest,” Cristina Siza Vieira, vice president of the Portuguese Hotel Association (AHP), told Lusa.
However, the country is experiencing a “frame input lock”which can cause serious damage to labor-intensive sectors and that they must maintain a response to market demand.
“Around 30% of our workers are immigrants, they are working, they fit in and they are contextualized,” but it is necessary to “maintain the hiring flow” to respond to tourism demand.
The hotel industry has “Transversal needs” of workhe said, commenting on the possibility of each sector establishing hiring quotas, requested by the Chega party.
“It is a need that affects all levels of functions and qualifications,” said the leader, who demanded that the Government create an identification model for consulate personnel that guarantees “a security regime, but with speed and transparency,” to respond to economic needs. operators.
The slowness of the public system was evident in the process of regularizing expressions of interest, with 400 thousand pending cases, “people who have an employment contract, who are already contributing to social security and who obviously have every right to integrate.” .
under construction, “Labor shortage is the main limitation” and surveys of companies indicate the “lack of around 80 thousand professionals in the sector, to meet the needs and execute the works already planned and programmed,” said Reis Campos, president of the Association of Construction and Public Works Industries (Aiccopn). ).
This lack of workers includes “all levels of qualification” and “foreign labor has become increasingly essential to guarantee the execution” of the works, and already represents “around 23% of the workforce.”
Currently, with the purpose of expressions of interest, “it is only possible to hire foreign workers after issuing a of their visas through the consular offices in their countries of origin”recalled Reis Campos, who regretted the “excessive bureaucracy, rigidity and slowness” of the processes.
The “effective reinforcement of consular offices, as well as the creation of channels and focal points of contact on the ground, is essential to attract the immigrant workers that the sector and the country sorely lack,” he added.
The association has already proposed a “green business route” to simplify and reduce bureaucracy in obtaining a visa, with the concentration in a single unit that centralizes all the necessary services of the State, added Reis Campos, highlighting that without streamlining the processes, It will be impossible to carry out the major public works planned, such as the new airport, the third Lisbon bridge or the high-speed rail network.
“Aware of the growing difficulties in hiring workers, Aiccopn has already presented the Government with a comprehensive set of proposals aimed at promoting the hiring and qualification of the human resources necessary to meet the needs of companies,” highlighted Manuel Reis Campos.
Source: Observadora
