During the four years of the Emprego Interior Mais program, which stimulates population mobility in the interior of the country, which ended on December 31, about 1,700 applications were approved.
According to data requested by Lusa from the Ministry of Territorial Cohesion (MCT), from the beginning of 2020 until December 17, 2023, the Emprego Interior Mais measure received 3,629 applications, of which 1,698 (46.7%) were approved.
The approval of the applications involved the relocation of 3,032 people, including beneficiary families, to the hinterland, with a total assistance amount of €6,086,905.74.
When the measure was introduced, the government estimated that “direct financial support of up to €4,827” would be provided to anyone moving from the coast to the Portuguese interior for work.
By region, 673 applications were approved for the center of the country worth 2.3 million euros (ME), 496 for the Alentejo (1.8 ME), 389 for the North (1.3 ME), 119 for Lisbon and Vale do Tejo ( 417 thousand euros) and 21 for the Algarve (81 thousand euros).
The Castelo Branco district was the destination with the highest number of approved applications (428 applications, 810 people moving to this district) with an approved value of 1.5 ME (25.21% of total approved).
Évora had 252 candidates, Guarda and Portalegre received 125 each, Vila Real 124, Viseu 121, Bragança 103, Beja 88, Coimbra 84, Santarem 70, Braga 58, Viana do Castelo 42, Setúbal 31, Faro 21, Leiria 16, Aveiro – seven, and the Porto region – three.
MCT data shows that 593 successful candidates were under 30 years of age, 704 were between 30 and 40 years of age, 296 were between 41 and 50 years of age and 105 were over 50 years of age.
In terms of qualification level, 165 people had completed less than the 12th year and 643 had at least the 12th year.
Another 68 candidates received a bachelor’s degree, 396 received an advanced degree, 402 received a master’s degree and 24 received a doctorate.
The majority, 1236 successful candidates, were employed.
A further 358 created their own jobs, 50 started a company and 54 were self-employed.
Lisbon was the district of origin of the majority of candidates working in the hinterland: 115 successful candidates left Lisbon for Castelo Branco, 82 for Évora, 48 for Portalegre and 40 for Guarda.
From the Porto district, the destinations of the approved candidates from Emprego Interior Mais were mainly Vila Real (51 approved candidates), Castelo Branco (42), Bragança (35), Viseu (27) and Évora (20).
The candidates’ professional projects were in areas related to human health (133), computer programming (92), consulting, public administration, defense and social security (84), retail trade (77), residential social support activities (76), catering and the like (65), association activities (61), agriculture and livestock raising (59) and accommodation (55).
Emprego Interior Mais was approved in February 2020 (applications are accepted with a back date of 1 January) as one of the activities of the Interior Work program and was originally due until the end of 2021, but was extended until 31 December. , 2023.
At the time of presentation, the government estimated that the package of measures to assess and attract people to the hinterland would create 2,810 jobs and attract €648 million of investment into the area.
By extending this measure, the government also expanded the potential recipients of support for emigrants who intended to return to Portugal and settle in the interior of the country.
According to MCT, as of mid-October 2023, the Return to Hinterland program had approved 1,381 applications involving 3,297 expats and their families, with approximately 6.4 ME supported to date.
Also according to MCT, as part of the resettlement measures in areas considered internal, the creation of 3,006 jobs was supported with the approval of 1,382 applications under PT2020, in programs such as +CO3SO Emprego (1,140 approved applications), +CO3SO Empreendorismo Social (125 applications) and RHAQ (117 approved applications).
The amount approved in this context was $176 million, of which $85.2 million had been paid by mid-October.
Author: Lusa
Source: CM Jornal
I’m Tifany Hawkins, a professional journalist with years of experience in news reporting. I currently work for a prominent news website and write articles for 24NewsReporters as an author. My primary focus is on economy-related stories, though I am also experienced in several other areas of journalism.