The problem of finding employees slows down the growth of SMEs in Portugal: 44 percent are planning to hire

While small and medium-sized businesses in Portugal signal growth in sales, one of the biggest problems for companies continues to be finding suitable employees.

According to Barómetro PME Magazine 2026 research, 47.7 percent of businesses evaluate the difficulty they experience in finding the employees they need at the highest levels of the scale used in the research.

In small businesses, this rate goes up to 58 percent.

Despite this, a significant portion of companies continue to look for new employees.

44.1 percent of the businesses participating in the research state that they plan to hire within the next three months.

Companies maintain staff rather than lay off employees

The research shows that the majority of SMEs in Portugal maintained their employee numbers in the last quarter.

Approximately 63.7 percent of companies did not change the number of employees.

The rate of businesses downsizing their staff remained at approximately 10.6 percent.

This table shows that although total employment in Portugal has decreased in recent months, the same trend is not experienced in all businesses.

While some companies are reducing headcount, others are still struggling to find suitable staff.

The problem is finding the right employee rather than the number of jobs

One of the main problems revealed by the research is skills mismatch.

When a company wants to recruit, it can easily find employees with the training and experience it needs in the market. It doesn't mean.

This can limit growth, especially in positions requiring technical skills, specialized roles, and certain sectors.

Therefore, two different developments can occur in the Portuguese labor market at the same time:

While total employment declines in certain periods, some companies cannot fill their open positions because they cannot find employees.

Staff bottleneck emerges as sales grow

Barómetro PME results show an overall positive trend in the sales performance of businesses.

However, the inability of companies to find the necessary employees to meet new orders and expand their activities becomes one of the limits to growth.

Therefore, the human resource problem is not only a labor market issue; It also directly affects the production and growth capacity of companies.

What does it mean for job seekers in Portugal?

The data does not mean that "there is a shortage of employees in every sector" in Portugal.

Labor demand varies significantly by sector, occupation, region, education and experience level.

However, 44.1 percent of companies are planning to hire for the next quarter, indicating that there is still a significant amount of hiring demand in the market for new job seekers.

Especially for foreign employees living in Portugal, it is more meaningful to look not only at the number of open positions but also at what skills companies have difficulty finding. it could be.

Language knowledge, recognition of professional qualifications and technical skills demanded by the Portuguese labor market continue to be decisive in the possibility of finding a job.

Important limitation of the research

It is necessary to distinguish between the universe represented by Barómetro PME Magazine 2026 and the number of businesses that actually responded to the survey.

While the SME universe referenced by the research covers more than 230 thousand businesses, there are 388 valid answers in the survey.

Therefore, results such as 47.7 percent or 44.1 percent are not a "direct count of all SMEs in Portugal", but survey results obtained from the businesses participating in the research.

This methodological distinction is important when evaluating the results.

Resources

Jornal Económico — Maria Teixeira Alves, 3 October 2026

https://jornaleconomico.sapo.pt/noticias/quase-metade-das-pme-aponta-dificuldade-em-atrair-talento-apesar-de-crescimento-nas-vendas/

PME Magazine — Barómetro PME 2026

https://pmemagazine.sapo.pt/barometro-pme-empresas-aceleram-nas-vendas-mas-talento-continua-a-travar-o-crescimento/

PME Magazine — Emprego mantém-se, mas talento continua a travar o crescimento

https://pmemagazine.sapo.pt/barometro-pme-emprego-mantem-se-mas-talento-continua-a-travar-o-crescimento/