A study carried out by Portugal's Observatory on youth employment found that in mid-2023 youths between the ages of 16 and 29, who were officially registered at employment centers, numbered just under 52,000, 18.5 percent of whom were immigrants.

The figure is much higher than the one provided so far by the national statistics office, according to which only 4 percent are unemployed foreigners.

Also read: Portugal ends legal pathways for undocumented migrants

Migrants find work more quickly, according to study

The study, moreover, revealed that the majority of unemployed Portuguese workers needed an average of 11 months to find a job while it took immigrants only five, representing one-fifth of the newly employed by the centers and filling gaps in manpower in less attractive and more precarious sectors.

In the case of youths looking for their first job, the difference was even more significant, according to the study. In this cohort, it took migrants 4.5 months compared to 15.5 months for the others.

The difference was much more contained when it came to the unemployed looking for a new job: it takes immigrants 3.5 months to leave unemployment and youths in general 6.5 months.

Also read: Portugal's new government tightens immigration rules

'Immigrants willing to accept jobs below expectations'

"Immigrants are willing to accept jobs below their initial expectations, which contributes to explain why they make it into the job market more quickly than the majority of young Portuguese," said Paulo Marques, a professor at the Lisbon university institute (Iscte) who coordinated the research.

Marques added that immigrants also have fewer support networks and face more pressure to accept any job. This group mainly includes youths coming from Portuguese-language countries (64.9 percent) who are mostly concentrated in the metropolitan area of Lisbon and who have a secondary degree (63.5 percent).

Only one-fifth (21.7 percent) were receiving unemployment benefits at the time of the study.

Along with the immigrants, the study identified two other vulnerable groups: youths with few qualifications (that group of people accounted for 36 percent of those enrolled in centers) and the unemployed who had obtained a university degree in areas with low employment rates.