Low salaries, an aging workforce that is not being renewed, the lack of motivation and incentives for the sector lead us to a current and future problem that seemed to have light at the end of the tunnel with the arrival of immigrant workers, but not…
I can say, for example, that currently we have in our country an excess of immigrant labor in the construction sector, especially from countries like India, Nepal, Bangladesh, Algeria, Morocco, etc.
It seems counterintuitive to talk about a lack of labor when we have an excess of it, but what really happens in Portugal is that immigrant workers, especially those from Asia and North Africa with practically no qualifications, are the ones willing and seeking work in the construction sector. The problem: many of these workers do not have legal documentation to perform their respective functions.
At the same time, another factor to highlight is the lack of proficiency in the Portuguese language, and consequently, it becomes a “handicap” right from the start, as even when communicating in English or French, the interlocutors on the ground from the construction companies do not speak any other language but Portuguese, which makes communication difficult and sometimes even impossible. In summary, these immigrant workers will hardly be able to enter the construction labor market. In truth, when there is will, it is possible to expedite means for things to happen. There is a need to legalize, but there is also a need to create means for these immigrant workers to be integrated into the labor market.
We need these workers!
Article by João Carriço, HR Specialist for the northern area of the Construction sector at Talenter™