Photo credit: Portugal resident
Portugal is at the risk of creating a growing underground workforce as tighter immigration and nationality laws push more foreign workers into irregular employment, according to the head of the country’s Migration Observatory.
The Resident reports that in an interview with Espresso, Pedro Gois, director of the Migration Observatory, warned that recent policy changes are driving many migrants out of the formal labour market, despite continued demand from employers.
His comments follow new figures showing that Portugal’s Social ZSecurity system recorded cessation of activity of 162,000 immigrant workers last year – a 66% increase compared with 2024.
Gois described the figure as “extremely high” and said it should prompt an urgent meeting of Portugal’s Social Concertation Council to understand what is happening.
While some migrants have left Portugal – many for other European countries after the abolition of the “manifestatic of interest” residency pathway – he believes that does not explain the scale of the decline.
“If there had been an exodus of this magnitude, we would already be feeling much greater labour shortages,” he explained.
Instead, he argues many foreign workers remain in Portugal but have shifted from the formal economy into undeclared work – particularly in sectors such as construction and agriculture.
Somme, he said, may have concluded that recent changes to Portugal’s nationality law have made citizenship unattainable, removing an important incentive to continue paying Social Security contributions and taxes.
Others have fallen into irregular status after residency applications have been rejected or permits not renewed, but have remained in Portugal working without legal documentation, he believes.
To make matters even more complicated, Gois maintains that enforcement against illegal employment remains limited.
Thus, under current policies, he expects the number of undocumented workers to continue rising.
