Employment & Jobs

Jobcentre Plus has a network of offices throughout the UK where staff can help you find work locally, nationally and internationally. Look in a telephone directory under Jobcentre Plus or Jobcentre. Alternatively, call Jobseeker Direct on: 0845 606 0234. Jobcentre Plus vacancies (including those for work overseas) are also advertised online.

Jobcentres and Jobcentre Plus Offices in the UK have details of vacancies throughout the EEA, supplied to them through the EURES network. This is a partnership between all of the employment services in the EEA, to support free movement of workers. The EURES system facilitates the circulation of vacancies and enables access to up-to-date information on living and working conditions in each EEA Member State via a computer network.

There are over 700 specially trained advisers throughout the EEA. Their role is to promote employment mobility within Europe. They are called EURES advisers and they specialise in the practical issues surrounding employment in the EEA Member States. EURES advisers can be contacted via your local Jobcentre Plus office.

As an EEA national you have free access to the services of the Portuguese employment service (Centro do Emprego). These government offices are administered by the Ministério de Emprego e Seguranca Social. The address of your nearest office will be in either a telephone directory (Lista Telefonica) or the Portuguese equivalent of Yellow Pages (Páginas Amarelas).

The Centros de Emprego can offer information about vacancies, training opportunities in the area and give advice on job hunting. There are 84 Centros de Emprego countrywide.

More information is available from: IEFP – Instituto do Emprego e Formaçao Profissional, Av. Jose Malhoa 11, 1099 – 018 Lisbon, Portugal.

Portugal is a full member of the European Union and forms part of the European Economic Area (EEA).

UK/EEA nationals have the right to live and work in Portugal without a work permit, and UK/EEA nationals working in Portugal have the same rights as Portuguese nationals with regard to pay, working conditions, and access to housing, vocational training, social security and trade union membership. Families and immediate dependants are entitled to join them and have similar rights.