PTRR Program: Combating climate catastrophe and regulated immigration in Portugal

The Portuguese government created the PTRR (Portugal Transformation, Recovery, and Resilience) program with the aim of responding to the needs arising from the climate disaster caused by the Kristin depression, which affected the country between January 28 and February 15, 2026.

With a view to rebuilding lost assets and ensuring the continuity of economic activities, the Government decided to invest in strengthening the workforce in Portugal.

The plan provides, in a first phase, for the IEFP (Employment and Professional Training Institute) to monitor labor needs in conjunction with the Mission Structure and business confederations and to support the hiring or reassignment of national and foreign workers who are already in Portugal.

Only after attempting to meet needs through internal hiring, and if these persist, will the recruitment of workers from abroad be considered. To this end, there are plans to strengthen the consular network with an additional 50 visa experts and mobile teams, as well as to apply the Regulated Labor Migration Protocol to speed up the issuance of visas when companies take responsibility for integrating workers.