Heads up: the 10 reasons why Portugal is so attractive for companies

The cat’s out of the bag: Portugal is buzzing. 

For the past few years, our country has been on the radar as a location of choice for digital nomads, remote workers, entrepreneurs, and businesses alike from all over the world and it has been getting a lot of attention from them (with many of them even choosing to move and/or establish here). 

The country, with its welcoming atmosphere and culture, breathtaking scenery, skilled workforce, and favourable business environment, is quickly gaining ground to become one of the top destinations for businesses to thrive.

In addition, Portugal has also been consistently ranked high for its quality of life, low cost of living, and favourable tax regime.

So far so good, right? But there’s more. 

Stay put. We will guide you through the 10 reasons why Portugal is such an attractive destination for companies and (also!) tell you how can we, at Landing.Jobs, help businesses with their recruitment needs and make sure they hire top tech talent. 

Portugal business vibes: 10 reasons why it is so appealing to companies 

Just after becoming a regular presence on most tourist lists, Portugal has also been – for quite some time now – a WFH (work-from-home) destination of choice for digital nomads who have been flying in. 

And now companies are also doing the same. Why? For several reasons. 

As explained in the Portugal Tech Hub e-book, by Pedro Moura (CMO at Landing.Jobs), “Due to its unique cultural and work characteristics, Portugal has come up in the past years as a top destination for both tech talent and the organizations that need them”.

“Tech talent from all over the world finds Portugal a great place to relocate to, work from and live in, alone or with their families. Quality of life, safety, weather, cost of life, food, culture, and geographical position are amongst the top reasons.” — Pedro Moura, CMO at Landing.Jobs

This is backed up, by Luís Castro Henriques (Chairman & CEO of AICEP Portugal Global – Trade & Investment Agency), who says that the country “has shown the world its capabilities in the areas of Industry, Trade, and Tourism, increasing exports in volume and value and attracting further investment. Today, Portugal is a competitive, innovative, and attractive country with a growth trajectory investment-wise”. 

“Portugal has increasingly positioned itself as a preferred destination for innovative IT investments, especially due to the excellent capabilities of its talented youngsters. Therefore, in these past years, Portugal has risen as an internationally relevant platform for start-ups with global ambitions in the scale-up phase and for companies looking to extend their technical capabilities by creating Software development and IT support centers abroad.” — Luís Castro Henriques, Chairman & CEO of AICEP Portugal Global – Trade & Investment Agency 

On this note, you can also find in the same e-book many reasons why Portugal is so appealing to companies. Still, we’ll give an insight: 

1. Strategic location

Portugal is strategically located, with quick and easy access to Europe, Africa, and the Americas, thus being considered an ideal location for companies looking to expand their business globally. 

So, that you have a more geographical idea, as you can read in the e-book: “We’re the nearest European country to the US, Canada, or South America, and we share the same time zone as the UK and Ireland. You can get to all European capitals within 4 hours from Lisbon”.

Plus, being a member of the European Union (EU), Portugal can provide businesses with access to a large and affluent market of over 500 million consumers. This makes it easy for companies to sell their products and services across Europe and expand their customer base.

2. Skilled workforce both local and global 

Portugal has a range of world-class universities, offering degrees and courses in multiple ranges of technical and business fields which, ultimately, leads to a highly skilled and educated workforce making it an attractive destination for businesses looking to hire top talent. Just so have an idea there are more than “225K local tech professionals and 7,5K new tech graduates per year from top universities, with great hard and soft skills”. 

In addition to this, the country has been getting loads of attention from global tech talent, with many remote workers tax and tech professionals choosing to move here. “Portugal’s strategic location and an amazing Tech Visa program provide companies access to millions of tech talent from Africa, South America, Asia, the Middle East, Eastern Europe, and many other places. Also, Portugal is the #1 destination for digital nomads”.

3. Favourable tax regime

Here’s another – quite big – reason why Portugal is so attractive for companies (and professionals). The country offers a favourable tax regime when compared to other countries. This includes low corporate tax rates and a range of incentives for businesses operating in certain sectors — including the special tax regime for Non-Habitual Residents (NHR) in Portugal, which offers a tax rate of 20% applicable to employment and self-employment income derived from a “high value-added activities”. Additionally, Portugal has double taxation treaties with over 80 countries. The country also offers a range of tax benefits for foreign residents, making it an attractive destination for companies looking to set up operations in Europe.

4. Startup-friendly ecosystem 

Portugal is – what you can call – a startup-friendly country. With a vibrant and thriving startup ecosystem, the country also has a range of support programs for entrepreneurs. Across the country, there are several startup incubators, accelerators, and co-working spaces, also, the government offers several incentives to startups, including tax breaks and access to funding, making it a great place to start and grow a business.

5. Good infrastructures 

Since we are rambling about the motifs that make Portugal so attractive to companies from all over the world, here’s another one. The country boasts a strong infrastructure, with high-speed internet, an excellent transport network, a modern telecommunications system, and energy networks which make it so easy and interesting for businesses to set up operations in Portugal and connect with customers and suppliers around the world.

6. An international tech hub

As stated in the e-book: “A lot of companies have set up IT Centres or hired in Portugal, among others: Volkswagen, Sky, Daimler, Hostelworld, Natixis, XING, BMW, Cloudflare, Springer Nature, Nfon, or Pipedrive”. Interesting, right?

This means that Portugal is home to several multinational companies, which makes it easy for businesses to establish connections among themselves. 

7. Innovation and research

You’ll also find here a strong tradition of innovation and research, with several world-class universities and research institutions. 

8. Legal and Regulatory Environment

Portugal has a stable legal and regulatory environment, with a strong rule of law and respect for property rights. This makes it easy for businesses to operate in Portugal, with a clear legal framework and transparent regulations.

9. Affordable Salaries

Yes, compared to other countries the salary range is quite affordable. According to the e-book data a Junior Full-Stack Developer’s gross annual salary is around 23,000€ and a Senior Full-Stack Developer 40,000€.

10. An English-speaking country

Wherever you’ll go, you’ll easily find someone who speaks English, with a high level of proficiency in the language. This makes it easy for businesses to communicate with customers and suppliers around the world, and for employees to adapt to the local culture and language.

Portugal as a destination for companies: find all the help you need 

In addition to all the previously mentioned reasons, we could also state the food, the quality of life, the low cost of living, the culture, and so on, as valid reasons why Portugal is getting attention from so many companies.

But, all clichés aside, the entrepreneurial environment is moving dynamically. 

For those who might still be questioning a possible move, let us tell you that you’ll also find all the help you need to establish here and find the top tech talent you might need. 

How? We got everything all the help companies need at Landing.Jobs to come to Portugal. Here’s how: 

Tech Recruitment & Hiring

At Landing.Jobs companies can access the tech recruitment marketplace platform with a global community of 250K+ tech professionals to hire. 

RPO (Recruitment Process Outsourcing)

Landing.Jobs offers is also an RPO provider, which offers a complete service with tech recruiters to help companies better manage their recruitment team and have local recruitment knowledge.

Visa and Relocation support

Landing.Jobs will guide you through the full process, with complete services to help tech talent relocate.

Employer of Record (EOR) Services 

An EOR is a third-party service provider that acts as the official employer for a worker on behalf of a client company. So, if you’re looking to recruit in Portugal, but you’re not established here, this might be a good way to do so and comply with all the legal requirements. At Landing.Jobs we can help you out with this one as well, as we also operate as an Employer of Record. This means that we’ll help companies deal with all the bureaucratic issues. For instance, paying tech talent hired in another country to work remotely across borders (for example, if you live in Portugal and are being hired to work cross-borders remotely to a company in the US, we assure you the safety of receiving your salary and paying your taxes locally and compliantly).

Come and let yourself be enchanted…

Find this appealing? So, let yourself be seduced. Just get in touch with us so we can make you a personalized offer.