Government wants to facilitate the entry of immigrants so as not to lose money from the PRR

The lack of workers in the construction sector is leaving several public tenders for works financed by the Recovery and Resilience Plan (PRR) deserts. The government is already preparing mechanisms to facilitate the entry of immigrants to solve the problem.

The “alarm bells sounded” in the Government, says (JN), highlighting that civil construction companies have and that, therefore, they do not apply for public tenders to carry out the Recovery and Resilience Plan (PRR).

In view of this, the Government is preparing “a mechanism to facilitate the entry of foreigners“, highlights the same newspaper.

“There are no conditions to execute” the PRR without more immigrants

A lack of labor in construction This is a reality of recent years, but it has worsened with the end of “expression of interest“, a situation that led to an 80% drop in the number of applications for immigrant residence.

The Deputy Minister and Territorial Cohesion, Manuel Castro Almeida, had already warned, about a month ago, that “there are no conditions to execute” the PRR without the entry of more immigrants.

At this point, there are around 80 thousand jobs leftadors only to “carry out the works already planned and scheduled” in , points out the president of the Association of Civil Construction and Public Works Industries (AICCOPN), Manuel Reis Campos, in statements to JN.

The lack of labor in construction occurs in “all qualification levels“, according to Reis Campos, highlighting, in particular, that there is “a need for technicians with training in areas such as BIM, modular construction and energy efficiency technologies”.

This situation led to a 27% increase in average gross salary practiced in the sector in the last five years, passing from 958 euros to 1218 eurosaccording to JN.

“Green route” for hiring foreigners

Next week, the Government will discuss with the employer associations measures to resolve this issue.

On the table there must be proposals to facilitate the entry of immigrants, namely a “green lane for companies” in the admission of foreign workers.

This measure may involve “facilitating the entry of foreign workers through a liability of the boss“, JN further found.

In this sense, the company would have to “guarantee an employment, residence and professional training contract” to allow the worker to remain in Portugal, “until the residence visa is granted”, adds the newspaper.

For now, the only thing that is certain is that the delay in the PRR works will lead to a loss of financing. The deadline for its execution is up to December 31, 2026.