The Greater Lisbon area leads in the number of job vacancies, but it’s the North region that stands out in terms of filled positions. This information is provided by the Office for Strategy and Planning (GEP) of the Ministry of Labor, Solidarity, and Social Security, updated last week and covering the first three months of the year.
“The Greater Lisbon region recorded the highest number of job vacancies,” totaling 19,740 (34.7% of the overall figure), followed by the Northern region with 16,763 vacancies (29.4% of the total),” the GEP report states.
However, “in terms of filled positions, the Northern region observed the highest number with 1,104,108 (35.3% of the total), followed by the Greater Lisbon area with 864,541, which represents 27.6% of all occupied jobs.”
“The Algarve and Greater Lisbon regions also stood out with the highest job vacancy rates at 2.4% and 2.2%, respectively. Conversely, the Autonomous Regions of Madeira and the Azores had the lowest rate at 1.3%,” the document further notes.
Which professions have the most vacancies?
According to GEP data, among the professions with the highest number of vacancies, sales representatives topped the list with 10,883 vacant positions, followed by customer support staff and information and communication technology (ICT) specialists with 5,617 and 3,847 vacancies, respectively.
The list continues with skilled construction workers, physical science specialists, operators of fixed installations and machinery, food preparation assistants, and cleaning workers.
SMEs stand out
By company size, the report highlights Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) with 30,693 vacant positions, accounting for 54.5% of the total.
In terms of filled positions, SMEs “also held the largest number of occupied jobs (1,748,296), representing 55.9% of the total.”
In the first quarter of 2025, the job vacancy rate in Portugal was 1.4%, an increase of 0.1 percentage points compared to the previous quarter and 0.2 percentage points year-on-year, according to the GEP. The “number of job vacancies in Portugal during the same period was 56,948, marking an 18% year-on-year increase.”
“In the first quarter of 2025, there were 56,948 job vacancies and 3,889,046 occupied positions. The vacancy rate was 1.4%, with increases of 0.1 percentage points compared to the previous quarter and 0.2 percentage points year-on-year,” the report states.
Looking abroad, “the job vacancy rate in the EU was 2.2% (2.4% in the EA), marking a decrease of 0.4 percentage points compared to the same period last year (-0.5 percentage points in the EA).”
“Compared to the 25 EU countries analyzed, Portugal ranks 18th, 0.8 percentage points below the EU average,” the document notes.
These data aim to “allow for an analysis of the labor market’s vitality, monitor changes in the level and structure of labor demand, and identify shortages and mismatches in the labor market.”
