As more and more Portuguese are leaving the country to escape the stagnating job market, Luxembourg appears to have become a hotspot for these migrants, as Adecco reports. It is estimated that last year alone, 84,000 Portuguese emigrated and particularly young people, couples with children, and fathers set the trend.

A manager at Adecco told a newspaper in Luxembourg that “every year [the amount of applications from Portuguese candidates] is increasing by 20%.” Around 80,000 to 100,000 Portuguese are expected to live in the country, and it is often unskilled workers that are looking for job opportunities in Luxembourg. Sectors that are increasingly popular for Portuguese migrant workers include the construction industry or the blue-collar sector.    

And Portugal is not the only country in Southern Europe that is experiencing labour-related migrations. In the Netherlands, employment agencies have recently reported of waves of migrant workers coming into the country from Southern Europe. Young professionals that are unable to find work in their home countries due to the unstable economic climate in the region are, in particular, prepared to go abroad and find employment as agency workers there.