Eurobarómetro Ranks Portugal Third in the EU SME Recruiting-Difficulty Read at 35% — Tied With Luxembourg and Behind Malta's 38% and Cyprus's 39%, the 1-17 December 2025 Survey Sizes 15% of PT Firms Hiring Outside the Bloc and 18% Inside
Eurobarómetro 1 June 2026: 35% of Portuguese SMEs report 'much difficulty' recruiting — third in the EU, behind Cyprus (39%) and Malta (38%), tied with Luxembourg. 15% of PT firms hire outside the EU and 18% inside; 18% of those hire construction workers, 12% engineers, 9% IT.