The Ministry of Labor received 359 collective dismissal communications between January and August, an increase of 41 compared to the 318 documented in the same period in 2024, as reported by the Directorate-General for Employment and Labor Relations (DGERT).
This figure, similar to July’s record, marks the highest since 2020, when it reached 455.
Of the 359 collective dismissals reported by companies up to August, 128 involved microenterprises, 143 small businesses, 54 medium-sized companies, and 34 large corporations.
The number of workers affected by collective dismissals rose by 27.3% through August compared to the same period last year, totaling 5,332, according to DGERT data.
Out of these 5,332 affected workers, 5,212 were actually dismissed, representing a 32.7% increase compared to the same period.
The trend of rising employees affected by collective dismissals has been ongoing since 2023, with the figure for the first eight months of this year already more than double the 2023 count (2,343) and the highest since 2020 (5,371).
Lisbon and Tagus Valley and the North remain the regions with the highest number of reported collective dismissals up to August, with 176 and 109 respectively.
In August specifically, 634 workers were effectively dismissed, which is higher than the 558 recorded in the same period last year but lower than the 781 noted in July.
Of the 634 workers dismissed in August, the majority hailed from the Northern region (80.4%), tallying 510 dismissed workers.
The sectors most affected in August include manufacturing and telecommunications, computer programming, consulting, computing infrastructures, and other information service activities, with the primary reason cited globally being workforce reduction (88%).
