Building Support Systems for Migrant Workers and Their Families

Portugal continues to welcome an increasing influx of workers from Brazilian engineers to Nepalese farmhands and Indian hospitality staff. These arrivals are reshaping cities, sectors, and communities. Portugal’s next task? Turning this migration into sustainable, inclusive integration through housing, language, employment services, and education.

Setting the Context: Migration Trends Overshadow Integration.

• As of 2023, over 1.29 million foreign residents lived in Portugal, rising to nearly 1.55 million by late 2024, or about 14–16% of the population.
• Migration includes Portuguese speakers (Brazil, Angola) and highly diverse Asian and African communities. Many settle in Lisbon, Faro, and Setúbal.
• Migrants contributed €3.65 billion to social security in 2024 and help fund around 17% of pension payouts.
• Public sentiment is cautiously positive: 68% of residents see foreign workers as essential to the economy.

Yet migrants face rising housing costs, delays in paperwork, language barriers, and social isolation.

Housing: Scarcity, Strain, and the Policy Response.

Portugal’s rental market has surged, rents in Lisbon rose around 94% since 2015, house prices up 186%, driven by tourism, short-term rentals, and foreign investment.

• Migrants often live in overcrowded or precarious conditions — 19% of non-EU residents live in overcrowded housing versus 8% of nationals.
• Some migrants resort to living in makeshift camps or even tents.
• The government has introduced a “solidarity visa”, offering residency in exchange for investments in affordable housing or migrant accommodation.
• Meanwhile, visa applicants must now prelease housing, which further ties up rental inventory and contributes to housing shortages.

Jon Purizhansky, CEO of Joblio, notes:“If migrant workers can’t access stable housing, their ability to contribute is undermined. Portugal’s challenge is balancing demand with affordabilitythrough both regulation and collaborative housing solutions.”

Language & Employment Support: The Role of Training Programs.

Portugal invests in migrant integration through tailored programmes:

• A national language initiative, Portuguese for All (PPT), supported nearly 8,000 participants through 2022; the newer PESSOAS 2030 scheme aims to support over 13,000 migrants by 2029 via ESF+ co-financing.
• The Programa Integrar, launched in October 2024, helps migrants find jobs through diagnostics, tailored employment and training plans, language assessment, and rights education. It’s run via IEFP.
• A tourism- and hospitality-specific extension of Integrar launched in early 2025, training up to 1,000 participants with support for internships and Portuguese or English proficiency.

Jon Purizhansky reflects:“Training is more than certificates. It’s a trust-building tool. When workers connect to the labor market through supported pathways, retention and job satisfaction improve markedly.”

Integration Centres & School Support for Families.

• Portugal has expanded its CLAIM network of local integration centers to over 150 nationwide, including hubs dedicated to Nepalese, Bangladeshi, and Angolan communities.
• These centers offer legal advice, employment guidance, document assistance, and language referral.
• Schools now employ 141 linguistic and cultural mediators as of early 2025, helping foreign-born students — whose numbers have doubled in two years — settle into classrooms.
• The Directorate-General for Education also published resources in multiple languages to guide schools on inclusive practices.

Jon Purizhansky adds:“Migrant families stay, if their children flourish. Cultural mediators and local integration centers make the difference between a temporary job and true belonging.”

Institutional Reform & Employer Engagement.

• SEF was replaced by AIMA in 2023. It now handles integration, migration, and asylum under one roof. A backlog of around 450,000 applications is being cleared with extra staff, online tools, and extended residence permit validity for those affected until autumn 2025.
• In July 2025, Portugal signed a labour migration protocol with business associations to develop a fast-track visa system for incoming workers. Employers who sign up must meet housing and training obligations.

In Jon Purizhansky’s view:“Portugal realizes that integration isn’t a passive process. It involves standards and commitmentsby states and employers. That’s how experience becomes sustainable.”

Portugal stands at a turning point. With rising reliance on migrant labor, success depends on integrating these workers into systems that support their well-being and productivity. Housing stability, language ability, employment pathways, and community inclusion define whether migrant labor becomes migration dividends.

Jon Purizhansky sums it up: “Portugal’s migration success will be measured not by arrival figures, but by how many migrants remain, contribute, and feel welcomed. That’s the real measure of progress here.”

Originally Posted: https://jonpurizhansky.medium.com/building-support-systems-for-migrant-workers-and-their-families-ec4633bdcd05