“In the October 2025 FAE Managers Barometer, there is a noted shift in focus from the previous month regarding the priorities of Portuguese managers,” the document released today reveals.
Concerns related to government and politics reversed the growth trend of recent months, dropping from 18% to 14.1%. “Nonetheless, these concerns, along with the international situation—which increased slightly from 31.5% to 32.6%—remain among the main concerns,” the barometer indicates.
Conversely, there was a significant increase in concerns about taxes and taxation, which rose from 7.9% to 10.9%, as well as competition and business model concerns, which increased from 4.5% to 9.8%, “reinforcing the upward trend.”
These two issues have, therefore, re-entered the list as one of the top five concerns for Portuguese managers.
Regarding the hiring and retention of talent, “the trend observed in the previous month reversed, returning to usual levels, with a significant drop from 15.7% to 10.9%.”
The barometer also includes data on managers’ Optimism Index, which “increased slightly, moving from 2.42 to 2.49.”
However, “despite the increase, the indicator remains in negative territory since 2022, reflecting persistent apprehension about the global economic context and its national implications,” it concludes.
