Workers in Portugal report overall satisfaction with their working conditions – on a par with workers in the EU27 Member States, the fourth European Working Conditions Survey reveals. However, while one in three Portuguese workers thinks they have good career prospects, a significantly lower proportion of Portuguese workers than the EU average feel they are well paid for the work they do. Also, two out of ten workers are afraid of losing their job in the coming six months, an indicator significantly higher than in the rest of Europe.

‘The European Working Conditions Survey shows that Portuguese workers are by and large content with their working conditions, although there are concerns in relations to pay levels, the quality of work and flexibility within the workplace,’ according to Jorma Karppinen, Director of Eurofound, the Dublin-based EU agency. ‘The Portuguese labour market boasts high female labour market participation levels in comparison with the other EU Member States, which makes Portugal the only EU Member State in the south of Europe to have met this specific Lisbon employment objective.’

Most Portuguese workers say they are satisfied with their work–life balance, with four out of five workers (82.4%) able to balance working hours with family and social commitments. In fact, more workers in Portugal are content with their work–life balance than in Spain (75.4%), France (80.9%) and Italy (73%). In contrast to the rest of Europe, where work intensity is a growing phenomenon, fewer Portuguese workers than on average in Europe report this problem. Another positive finding is that more Portuguese workers than the EU average have a woman as their immediate boss (26.9% as against 24.5%).

However, only just over a quarter of Portuguese workers (28.6%) consider themselves to be well paid, in contrast to the average level in the former EU15 (47%) and in EU27 countries (43.2%). Portugal also has a low level of tele-working from home (2.1%) compared to the situation in the EU27 (8.3%). Fewer workers in Portugal work with computers and use email/internet at work than on average in Europe and in the neighbouring countries.

The survey also raises concerns over work-related health effects among Portuguese workers. Almost one out of three workers (31.4%) considers their health or safety to be at risk at work, and five out of ten (57.1%) work in tiring or painful positions. A high percentage of Portuguese workers report headaches (23.9%) and muscular pains (28.8%). The corresponding average figures for the EU27 countries are significantly lower at 15.5% and 22.8% respectively.