Portugal: Working conditions of young entrants to the labour market

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Young entrants are most affected by the crisis, regarding precarious forms of employment and difficulties in achieving a stable job. The lower the age, the worse working conditions are. And younger women are more affected by precariousness, e.g. part-time work and temporary contracts. Differences by economic sector and company size are noticeable, with the services sector offering worse working conditions and the smaller companies offering more permanent jobs for young employees. In general, the working conditions of young entrants to the labour market have deteriorated in Portugal over the last five years, as result of the effects of the crisis.

Introduction

This EWCO CAR is specifically focused on the group of “young entrants to the labour market”. This group includes all young people (between 15 and 30 years old) who have recently entered into the labour market (i.e., people with a work experience shorter than 1-2 years in the labour market), with relative independence of their age and for whom work is their main and core activity. This definition excludes young people for whom studies are their main activity but who combine their studies with some remunerated activity as part of their training programmes (e.g. apprenticeships in dual systems), as well as unemployed young people, even if they are actively looking for a job (see Background note for more detailed information on the concept of young entrants to be considered in the research).

The CAR coordinating team is conscious that such as “narrow” definition of “young entrants to the labour market” can make difficult the identification and collection of relevant information on the topic. Therefore, and in the case no national information is available using this “narrow” definition, National Correspondents can use a “proxy” definition of “young entrant to the labour market” as any young person (i.e. between 15 and 30 years old) who is in employment, irrespectively of the number of years of experience that he/she has in the labour market (again, unemployed young people are excluded from the analysis).

The questionnaire focuses on the following topics:

• General description and characterisation of the main current working conditions of young entrants to the labour market in your country in comparison to other age groups (around 700 words)

• Identification and characterisation of existing differences in working conditions within the group of young entrants to the labour market in your country (around 600 words)

• Evolution of working conditions of young entrants to the labour market in the last five years. Effects of the economic crisis (around 500 words)

• Initiatives taken by national governments/social partners in order to improve employment levels and working conditions of young entrants to the labour market (around 500 words)

• Final commentary on the main results (around 100 words)

Block 1: General description and characterisation of the main current working conditions of young entrants to the labour market in your country in comparison to other age groups

NCs are kindly requested to provide the most updated information (coming from national surveys, administrative registers or ad-hoc national research/studies) on a number of working conditions-related variables specifically related to young entrants to the labour market in comparison to other age groups. Please provide the information only for those variables where significant/important differences, either positive or negative, can be identified in relation to other age groups, stressing the causes and rationale of these differences

1.1. Career and employment security issues

The current working conditions of young entrants to the labour market are analysed below. As an introductory note, it is important to clarify that, given the lack of national information using the “narrow” definition proposed for this CAR, we use a “proxy” definition of “young entrant to the labour market” as any young person (i.e. between 15 and 29 years old, or other age group(s) depending on the source) who is in employment, irrespectively of the number of years of experience that he/she has in the labour market.

Young entrants are most affected by the current crisis, particularly regarding precarious forms of integration in the labour market and difficulties in achieving a stable job.

Table 1 shows that the percentage of employees aged 15-29 working full-time decreased 2.4 p.p., between 2011 and 2012, well above the decrease for other age groups. On the other hand, data show a significant increase of part-time work: in 2012 14.7% of the young entrants were working part-time, which represents an increase of 2.5 p.p. compared with 2011, the largest increase compared with the other age groups.

Source: Labour Force Survey of Statistics Portugal - INE [Inquérito ao Emprego – Instituto Nacional de Estatística - INE], unpublished data.

The number of employees working through temporary agency work also rose significantly in the last two years, especially among the employees aged 15-29 years. In 2012, 29.6 thousand employees aged 15-29 were working through temporary agency work, representing 43.1% of all employees involved in this form of work. Considering that job offers have become less frequent, temporary agency work tends to be increasingly used as a vehicle to enter into the labour market and it is seen as the only way to achieve the aim of having a stable job.

Note:

§ the value cannot be disclosed because the sampling error is higher than 20%.

Source: Labour Force Survey of Statistics Portugal - INE [Inquérito ao Emprego – Instituto Nacional de Estatística - INE]. unpublished data.

The current situation in the labour market reflects the deterioration in working conditions occurred in the last years. The analysis of table 3 evidences the precarious integration of the young entrants in the labour market and the difficulties they have in achieving a stable job. On the one hand, only 55.7% of the employees aged 15-29 years have an open-ended contract in 2012, significantly less than the other age groups. On the other hand, both fixed-term contracts and other forms of contract, namely service provision, are over-represented among young entrants.

For most employers, hiring young temporary employees is a strategy facilitating to practice lower wages and avoid permanent contracts, allowing minimizing costs and avoiding bureaucracy in case of dismissal.

Note:

^* Since 2011, this category includes only service provision.

Source: Labour Force Survey of Statistics Portugal - INE [Inquérito ao Emprego – Instituto Nacional de Estatística - INE], unpublished data.

As to wages, the table 4 shows that the percentage of employees covered by the national minimum wage was 15.3% in 2011, more 0.4 p.p. than in 2011. The minimum wage is particularly significant among employees aged 15-29: in 2011, 22.9% of the young entrants earned the national minimum wage, about more 9 p.p. than the other age groups.

Notes:

^* in 2010 the value of the national minimum wage was €475.

^** in 2011 the value of the national minimum wage was €485.

n.a: information not available.

Source: Office for Strategy and Studies – GEE [Gabinete de Estratégia e Estudos - GEE], unpublished data.

The same trend is identified in the figure 1: as income levels rise, the percentage of employees aged 15-29 years decreases.

The overall value of the employees’ average monthly income was €810, in 2012. Almost 30% of the young entrants received less than €310 and only 3.6% of these had an income higher than €1,199. Reference should be made to the fact that today’s young entrants are the most qualified ever, given the progress made regarding educational achievement in Portugal in recent years.

1.2. Skills development

According to the Institute for Employment and Vocational Training - IEFP (Instituto do Emprego e Formação Profissional - IEFP), by the end of December 2011 there were 154,057 persons involved in vocational training activities. About 25% of the persons covered by these activities were young people aged less than 25. However, the more significant age groups were 25-34 years and 34-44 years, representing 23.4% and 24.5% respectively of all the persons involved in vocational training activities.

1.3 Health and well being

Figure 3 shows that 22.4% of the accidents at work involved victims aged less than 30 years.

Considering the fatal accidents at work, the percentage of younger employees is lower, 12.5%.

The available data do not allow to conclude for a higher incidence of accidents at work among young entrants. However, according to the European Agency for Safety and Health at Work (EU-OSHA) as well as to some news published in the media (http://www.setubalnarede.pt/content/index.php?action=articlesDetailFo&rec=15458&tpPage=Print), there are several reasons why young workers may be at risk at the workplace:

Young people lack experience, and may not pay enough attention to the risks that they face:

• they may lack physical and psychological maturity

• they may lack skills and training

• they may be unaware of their employer's duties, and their own rights and responsibilities

• they may lack confidence in speaking out if there's a problem.

For their part, employers may fail to take account of the vulnerability of young people, by providing them with the training, supervision and safeguards that they need, and giving them work that is appropriate for them.

1.4. Reconciliation of working and non-working life

According to our research there is no available information on this topic regarding the specific situation of young entrants.

Block 2: Identification and characterisation of existing differences in working conditions within the group of young entrants to the labour market in your country

NCs are kindly requested to provide the most updated information (coming from national surveys, administrative registers or ad-hoc national researches/studies) on differences of working conditions within the group of young entrants to the labour market, for a series of variables. Please provide the information only for those variables where significant/important differences, either positive or negative, can be identified, stressing the causes and rationale of these differences

2.1 Personal characteristics of young entrants

Precarious forms of employment, e.g. part-time work (table 5) and temporary contracts (table 6), are more prevalent in the lower age groups.

Source: Labour Force Survey of Statistics Portugal - INE [Inquérito ao Emprego – Instituto Nacional de Estatística - INE], unpublished data.

Note:

^* Since 2011, this category includes only service provision.

Source: Labour Force Survey of Statistics Portugal - INE [Inquérito ao Emprego – Instituto Nacional de Estatística - INE], unpublished data.

The same trend is noticeable among employees working through temporary agency work: in 2012, 6.3% of the employees aged 20-24, compared with 3% of those aged 25-29 are covered by temporary agency work (Labour Force Survey of Statistics Portugal - INE [Inquérito ao Emprego – Instituto Nacional de Estatística - INE], unpublished data).

With regard to wages, a study conducted by the Observatory on Inequalities (Observatório das Desigualdades) of the Centre for Research and Studies in Sociology (Centro de Investigação e Estudos de Sociologia) based on the Personnel Records 2008 (Quadros de Pessoal 2008) entitled Unequal salaries among workers in the private sector in 2008 (Desigualdades de remuneração entre os trabalhadores do sector privado em 2008) also shows that wages increase as age increases. The largest increase takes place between the age group 15-24 years to the age group 25-34 years, with wages rising by €231.

On the other hand, statistics on accidents at work, related to 2010, show that accidents at work occurred in higher numbers among employees aged 25-29 years (25,314 accidents at work) than among employees aged up to 24 years (22,014 accidents at work). A similar situation also occurred regarding fatal accidents at work: there were 17 fatal victims in the age group 25-29 years, compared with 9 in the group 15-24. (Source: Statistics Summary of Accidents at Work - 2010 - Ministry of Labour and Social Solidarity / Office for Strategy and Planning – MSSS/GEP.

Younger women, compared with younger men, are more affected by precarious forms of employment, e.g. part-time work (table 7) and temporary contracts (table 8).

Source: Labour Force Survey of Statistics Portugal - INE [Inquérito ao Emprego – Instituto Nacional de Estatística - INE], unpublished data.

Note:

§ the value cannot be disclosed because the sampling error is higher than 20%.

Source: Labour Force Survey of Statistics Portugal - INE [Inquérito ao Emprego – Instituto Nacional de Estatística - INE]. unpublished data.

As to temporary agency work, in 2012, 54.3% of the employees aged 20-24, and 54.8% of those aged 25-29 covered by this form of work were men, compared with 45.7% and 45.1% of women, respectively in each age group (source: Labour Force Survey of Statistics Portugal - INE [Inquérito ao Emprego – Instituto Nacional de Estatística - INE], unpublished data).

On the other hand, the statistics on accidents at work 2010 mentioned above show that young men are much more likely to have an accident at work than young women: in the age group 25-29 years, men 18,564 and women 6,750; and also in the < 24 age group, men 16,645 and women 5,369. Besides, only young men were victims of fatal accidents at work.

Men, including young entrants, are more likely to have a serious accident at work since there are more men than women in the most exposed jobs and sectors (e.g. construction).

Researchers have also concluded that men tend to adopt preventive methods less protective than women.

There is no clear evidence in terms of differences in working conditions of young entrants by educational levels.

Table 9 shows that the relative importance of part-time work is bigger among those who hold higher education.

Source: Labour Force Survey of Statistics Portugal - INE [Inquérito ao Emprego – Instituto Nacional de Estatística - INE], unpublished data.

Also fixed-term contracts are more frequent among young entrants holding higher education, especially for those aged 20-24. On the contrary, young entrants with a service provision contract mostly hold secondary or higher secondary education.

Notes:

§ the value cannot be disclosed because the sampling error is higher than 20%.

^* Since 2011, this category includes only service provision.

Source: Labour Force Survey of Statistics Portugal - INE [Inquérito ao Emprego – Instituto Nacional de Estatística - INE], unpublished data.

As to temporary agency work, both in the age groups 20-24 and 25-29 most of the employees working through this type of work have a secondary or higher secondary education (source: Labour Force Survey of Statistics Portugal - INE [Inquérito ao Emprego – Instituto Nacional de Estatística - INE], unpublished data).

Long working hours, 41 or more in each week, mostly affect young entrants who hold up to the third cycle of basic education.

Note:

§ the value cannot be disclosed because the sampling error is higher than 20%.

Source: Labour Force Survey of Statistics Portugal - INE [Inquérito ao Emprego – Instituto Nacional de Estatística - INE], unpublished data.

There is no available information by other personal characteristics.

There is no available information allowing for explaining the existing differences in terms of personal characteristics of young entrants.

2.2 Occupational characteristics

Young entrants working in the services sector tend to work part-time in higher percentages, compared with the other economic sectors. This is especially the case for the 15-19 years old.

Note:

§ the value cannot be disclosed because the sampling error is higher than 20%.

Source: Labour Force Survey of Statistics Portugal - INE [Inquérito ao Emprego – Instituto Nacional de Estatística - INE], unpublished data.

Industry, construction, energy & water is the economic sector offering more open-ended contracts to young employees. In the services sector more young employees have a fixed-term contract.

Notes:

§ the value cannot be disclosed because the sampling error is higher than 20%.

^* Since 2011, this category includes only service provision.

Source: Labour Force Survey of Statistics Portugal - INE [Inquérito ao Emprego – Instituto Nacional de Estatística - INE], unpublished data.

Young employees in smaller companies, with 10 employees or less, tend to work part-time in higher percentages than those working in larger companies.

Note:

§ the value cannot be disclosed because the sampling error is higher than 20%.

Source: Labour Force Survey of Statistics Portugal - INE [Inquérito ao Emprego – Instituto Nacional de Estatística - INE], unpublished data.

As to type of contract, smaller companies seem to offer better working conditions for young employees, if we take open-ended contracts as an indicator.

Notes:

§ the value cannot be disclosed because the sampling error is higher than 20%.

^* Since 2011, this category includes only service provision.

Source: Labour Force Survey of Statistics Portugal - INE [Inquérito ao Emprego – Instituto Nacional de Estatística - INE], unpublished data.

No information on accidents at work is available by size classes and age group. However, available information shows that the prevalence of accidents at the workplace is higher in the smaller companies 1-9 workers) with 28.3% followed by the category from 10 to 49 workers with 27.8% accidents at the workplace. (Statistics Summary of Accidents at Work- 2010 - Ministry of Labour and Social Solidarity / Office for Strategy and Planning – MSSS/GEP.

Young people (especially those aged 20-24) in less skilled occupations, e.g. “Administrative”, “Craft and related trade workers” and “Unskilled workers” tend to work more part-time, compared to those in skilled occupations. On the other hand, precarious fixed-term contracts affect both young people in less skilled occupations, e.g. “Administrative” and “Unskilled workers” and young people in skilled occupations, e.g. “Intellectual and scientific professions” and “Technicians and associate professionals”. (Source: Labour Force Survey of Statistics Portugal - INE [Inquérito ao Emprego – Instituto Nacional de Estatística - INE], unpublished data.)

The occupational group where there were more accidents at work within young entrants was "Craft and related trade workers" followed by “Service workers and shop and market sales workers” and “Unskilled workers”.

Source: Annual report on Accidents at work - 2010 - Ministry of Labour and Social Solidarity / Office for Strategy and Planning – MSSS/GEP [Relatório anual dos Acidentes de Trabalho – 2010 - Ministério do Trabalho e da Solidariedade Social / Gabinete de Estratégia e Planeamento – MSSS/GEP].

There is no available information regarding possible explanations for the differences in terms of occupational characteristics.

Block 3: Evolution of working conditions of young entrants to the labour market in the last five years. Effects of the economic crisis

NCs are kindly requested to provide information on the following items: NCs are kindly requested to provide information (coming from national surveys, administrative registers or ad-hoc national researches/studies) on differences of working conditions amongst the group of young entrants to the labour market in comparison to the situation five years ago. Please provide the information only for those variables where significant/important differences, either positive or negative, can be identified, stressing the causes and rationale of these differences

3.1 Please provide information on the evolution of working conditions of young labour entrants in the last five years. Have working conditions of this group improved/deteriorated in comparison to the existing situation five years ago (before the economic crisis began)? What are the reasons for these changes

Data on the evolution of wages by age group in the last five years are not available. A study conducted by the Observatory on Inequalities of the Centre for Research and Studies in Sociology based on the Personnel Records 2000-2009 entitled “Wage gap between workers in the private sector in 2000-2009” shows that young male workers with higher education are those who, throughout the period 2005-2009, had higher average gross salaries. Their salaries have always been higher than women’s with the same level of qualification.

Source: Personnel Records 2005-2009 Ministry of Labour and Social Solidarity / Office for Strategy and Planning GEP/MSSS [Quadros de Pessoal 2005-2009 Ministério do Trabalho e da Solidariedade Social / Gabinete de Estratégia e Planeamento – MSSS/GEP].

Generally there has been an increase in the earnings over the years for both men and women without higher education. However, this increase did not occur for young working men with higher education: between 2005-2009 there was a reduction in their average remuneration of 0.9%. Even though remaining with a lower pay than men with higher education there was an increase of 6.3% of average earnings of young working women with the same level of qualification.

The statistics on accidents at work within young entrants to the labour market show that the numbers progressed into a largely positive direction between 2007 and 2010: there was a decrease in the number of accidents by 32.9% for young people under the age of 24 years and by 16.4% for young people aged 25-34 years. According to the (then) national authority for safety and health at work "society is investing on prevention" (http://www.ehsportugal.com/new/noticias.php?idn=746&npag=38).

However, in general terms, the working conditions of young entrants to the labour market have deteriorated in Portugal over the last five years, as a result of the effects of the crisis. Several ILO reports (e.g. the ILO 2010 report http://www.igfse.pt/upload/docs/2012/Criseempregojovemtempoagir.pdf; the ILO 2012 report http://www.ilo.org/public/portugue/region/eurpro/lisbon/pdf/relatorio_empregojovem_2012.pdf; and the the ILO 2013 report

Global Employment Trends for Youth 2013: A generation at risk) make a clear link between the effects of the crisis and the worsening of youth working conditions, especially in countries like Portugal: “The weakening of the global recovery in 2012 and 2013 has further aggravated the youth jobs crisis and the queues for available jobs have become longer and longer for some unfortunate young jobseekers. So long, in fact, that many youth are giving up on the job search. The prolonged jobs crisis also forces the current generation of youth to be less selective about the type of job they are prepared to accept, a tendency that was already evident before the crisis. Increasing numbers of youth are now turning to available part‐time jobs or find themselves stuck in temporary employment. Secure jobs, which were once the norm for previous generations – at least in the advanced economies – have become less easily accessible for today’s youth”. (http://www.ilo.org/global/research/global-reports/global-employment-trends/youth/2013/lang--en/index.htm)

Data on the Portuguese case confirm these negative impacts of the crisis on young entrants.

Part-time work has been increasingly rapidly and consistently among young entrants: from 3.4% in 2008 to 8.8% in 2010, representing an increase of 5.4%. Similarly from 2011 to 2012 there was also an increase of 2.5%.

Note: ^* in 2011, there was a break in the series in the Labour Force Survey of INE which may limit direct comparability of data.

Source: Labour Force Survey of Statistics Portugal - INE [Inquérito ao Emprego – Instituto Nacional de Estatística - INE], unpublished data.

The growing precariousness of young entrants is also expressed by the increase in fixed-term contracts, until 2010. And, in the two last years, by the rising relative importance of the “other” type of contract, referring to service provision, thus even more unstable.

Notes:

^* In 2011 there was a break in the series in the Labour Force Survey of INE which may limit direct comparability of data.

^** This category includes seasonal work without formal contract; occasional work and service provision.

^*** Since 2011 this category includes only service provision.

Source: Labour Force Survey of Statistics Portugal - INE [Inquérito ao Emprego – Instituto Nacional de Estatística - INE], unpublished data.

The number of young temporary agency workers in Portugal is also increasing, by 4.2 p.p. between 2011 and 2012.

Note:

^* In 2011 there was a break in the series in the Labour Force Survey of INE which may limit direct comparability of data.

Source: Labour Force Survey of Statistics Portugal - INE [Inquérito ao Emprego – Instituto Nacional de Estatística - INE]. unpublished data.

Young entrants, but also newly recruited workers of any age, are in fact increasingly being hired on more precarious employment contracts, such as temporary, part-time or fixed-term contracts.

Consequently, over time, the number of young people in jobs following the traditional employment pattern tends to decline.

Furthermore, the dramatic growth in the youth unemployment rate, coupled with the fact that many of those entering the labour market for the first time are only obtaining low-quality and low-paid short-term jobs, even if they are highly qualified, is leading many (mostly highly qualified) young Portuguese to turn to emigration seeking for an adequate job or even for any job at all.

According to the article published in November 2012 by the Permanent Observatory on Youth (Observatório Permanente da Juventude) entitled ‘Where are young people migrating to? Emerging dynamics in Portugal’ (Para onde migram os jovens? Dinâmicas emergentes em Portugal), Portugal is unquestionably living a new emigration flow. Based on figures from Statistics Portugal, it is stressed that the Portuguese emigrant has an increasingly younger profile, Between 2008 and 2010 there was a significant increase of young people under 25 years who emigrate. Despite this still being a male-dominated flow, the percentage of women is increasingly significant - 42.8% in 2011. This is also an increasingly more qualified emigration: in 2000, 13% of the Portuguese emigrants had a university degree.

The statistical figures above deserved a comment made in the media by the Secretary of State for Portuguese Communities, who claimed that, in reality, the number of Portuguese people emigrating to other countries was in fact much higher, the INE’s figures for 2011 thus representing less than half of the actual numbers. According to the same governmental source, this emigration flow grew significantly in 2012, being estimated that over 100,000 people left Portugal during the last year. (http://www.tsf.pt/PaginaInicial/Portugal/Interior.aspx?content_id=3014594&tag=Emigrantes)

3.2 Based on possible existing prospective studies, please provide information on the expected evolution of employment levels and working conditions of young labour market entrants in your country in the near future (coming 2-3 years)

The Daphne project “Youth deviance and youth violence: A European multi-agency perspective on best practices in prevention and control” was implemented in Portugal by the Centre for Studies for Social Intervention (Centro de Estudos para a Intervenção Social – CESIS). This study conducted a Delphi expert survey with the aim to examine future societal changes and challenges and their implications for prevention and control of youth problems behaviour. In what concerns the main changes in the Portuguese society until 2025, a rise of the unemployment is anticipated as well as a rise of social inequalities and consequently an increase of social conflicts. The growing cleavage within young people will be fed by contradictory trends regarding education: in parallel to a highly educated youth, the early school dropout among youngsters from underprivileged families is expected to increase in the current context of crisis.

The Chairperson of the Portuguese Association of Demography alerted to the fact that many young Portuguese will leave the country in the coming years due to lack of employment.(http://rr.sapo.pt/informacao_detalhe.aspx?fid=25&did=77226)

According to a survey launched by Universia Portugal and Trabalhando.pt, in November 2012,

94% of the young Portuguese surveyed consider the possibility of working abroad. There is such an interest in this kind of experience that 63% of the respondents declared to be willing to do it in any economic sector or occupation, even if not related to their field of study. (http://noticias.universia.pt/destaque/noticia/2012/11/29/985270/inquerito-universia-e-trabalhando.html)

Block 4: Initiatives taken by national governments/social partners in order to improve employment levels and working conditions of young entrants to the labour market

4.1 Identify main recent national measures/initiatives (1-2) put in place in your country by public authorities in order to improve employment opportunities and working conditions for young entrants to the labour market.

During 2012, the Portuguese Government implemented a set of active labour market policies, particularly aimed at promoting the employment and vocational training of unemployed people and improving employability. Among those measures, two are particularly relevant for the purposes of this section: the ‘Employment Passport’ (Passaporte Emprego) and the ‘Support to Hiring via Reimbursement of the Single Social Tax’ (Apoio à Contratação via Reembolso da Taxa Social Única - TSU). Both measures are part of the 'Young Impulse' programme (Impulso Jovem), which is structured around three main types of measures: a) professional apprenticeships; b) support to hiring and entrepreneurship; and c) support to investment.

However, these measures deserved strong criticisms from trade unions, especially from the General Confederation of Portuguese Workers (Confederação Geral dos Trabalhadores Portugueses – CGTP-IN) and some civil society movements.

According to the CGTP-IN’s perspective, these measures do not solve the problem of unemployment and are not promoting the economic growth; they are rather promoting precariousness, low wages and unemployment (CGTP’s press release).

Additionally, recent developments in labour legislation are seen by both trade union confederations (CGTP-IN and UGT) and by different voices in the society, as drivers to increased labour precariousness, particularly for young entrants, who are among the most vulnerable groups in the labour market, namely in relation to precarious work relations and difficulties in accessing jobs. Therefore, most of the measures implemented are deemed to have little effect on the reduction of youth unemployment.

Note: n.a. – not available.

Source:

http://www.impulsojovemportugal.pt/passaporte-emprego/9.htm

http://www.impulsojovemportugal.pt/apoio-a-contratacao-via-reembolso-da-taxa-social-unica/88.htm

There is no assessment of the specific measures included in the Young Impulse programme. However, in a press conference the Portuguese Prime-Minister recently recognised that the Young Impulse programme as such had ‘a rather low performance during its first three months of implementation’. At the end of 2012, the programme was reassessed, with the social partners (please see section 4.2) and, from January 2013, it assumed ‘a rather more positive answer’, as a result of the changes introduced (by the Order 65-B/2013 of 13 February). The Prime-Minister also recalled that, until 11 March 2013, the Young Impulse had a total of 8,400 applications, which reflected ‘an increase of almost 40% in the number of applications during the first month following the introduction of the changes’.

4.2 Identify main recent initiatives (1-2) put in place in your country by social partners (either at national, sector or company level) in order to improve working conditions amongst young entrants to the labour market.

According to our research no specific initiatives have been put in place in Portugal by the social partners, either jointly or separately, to improve working conditions amongst young entrants to the labour market.

However, for the dissemination of the ‘Young Impulse’ cooperation protocols were signed with General Workers’ Union [União Geral de Trabalhadores - UGT]; Confederation of Portuguese Industry [Confederação Empresarial de Portugal - CIP]; Portuguese Trade and Services Confederation [Confederação do Comércio e Serviços de Portugal - CCP]; Portuguese Confederation of Farmers [Confederação dos Agricultores de Portugal - CAP]; and Portuguese Confederation of Tourism [Confederação do Turismo Português - CTP].

Additionally, the Coordination and Monitoring Commission of the Programme Young Impulse (Comissão de Coordenação e Acompanhamento do Programa Impulso Jovem) meets on a monthly basis with the social partners for the external monitoring of the Programme.

Commentary by the NC

Youth unemployment is currently a dramatic issue in Portugal. This has led to a relative devaluation of the working conditions of young entrants as a concern of the authorities and social partners. The instruments and mechanisms recently put in place to support young people in the labour market are particularly aimed at promoting the employment and vocational training of unemployed people and improving employability. The quality of jobs offered is thus not as much in focus. Trade unions and different voices in the civil society argue that these measures, together with recent developments in labour law, are drivers to increased labour precariousness, particularly for young entrants. Furthermore most of the measures implemented are deemed to have little effect on the reduction of youth unemployment.

Heloísa Perista, Janine Nunes and Paula Carrilho, CESIS.