We are more than most other Europeans. Portugal has the highest percentage of professionals with low qualifications.
Many Portuguese are work 49 hours or more per weekindicates a study by Randstad.
The numbers are for the last quarter of last year: with 9,1%, Portugal is the 4th European Union country with the highest percentage of workers on this scale of at least working 49 hours/week in their main job.
It should be noted that 9.1% is well above the European Union average: 6.5%.
Greece (12,4%), Cyprus (10%) e France (9.7%) are the only three countries in the bloc to surpass the Portuguese average.
Portugal presents “an incidence of [de trabalho] longer than economies like Germany or Spain”, quotes the – in Germany the average is 5% and here next door, in Spain, it is 6.3%
The average is above Europe, but Portugal has even recorded a drop in this percentage throughout this century. Even so, Portugal maintains a “culture of long hours above the European average.”
Os employers (35%) are found more often in situations where they work 49 hours/week; much more than self-employed workers (20%). There are even fewer employees working 49 hours/week (6.8%).
In another chapter, Portugal continues to have the highest percentage in the EU of professionals with low qualifications (29.1%) – practically double the European average (14.7%).
7.9% of workers in Portugal were foreigners, in the last quarter of 2025. The average in the European Union is 10.5%; in Spain it is 16.8% and in Luxembourg it rises to 54.4%.
