The Azores Government is implementing measures to attract and retain young talent in the region, not only through support for young residents, but also for those who have left the archipelago to pursue their studies and decide to return to start their professional careers in the Azores.

One of the most recent measures created through the Regional Secretariat for Youth, Housing, and Employment is the Salary Enhancement Measure, part of the “+Jovem” package, which is already benefiting 169 young people.

The Salary Enhancement Measure includes two types of support: one for attracting talent and the other for retaining talent, both of a financial nature and valid for five years.

The maximum amount of support to be awarded for talent recruitment is €2,000 for graduates, €5,000 for master’s degree holders, and €8,000 for workers with a doctorate.

Support for talent retention applies to young people with a bachelor’s, master’s, or doctoral degree, or graduates with a qualification equal to or higher than level IV of the National Qualifications Framework, who submit a personal income tax return (IRS) and have earned income in category A or B of the IRS.

In this case, support is granted based on the amount of net tax due, corresponding to 100%, also for five years.

Young people whose applications have already been approved will be able to apply from September for support corresponding to the total amount of IRS withheld (up to a limit of four times the Guaranteed Minimum Monthly Wage in the Region), a benefit they can claim during the five years following the start of their professional activity.

Applications for the Salary Enhancement Measure, aimed at attracting and retaining young people on each of the Azores islands, are open on the website empregojovem.azores.gov.pt.

Young people aged 35 or under on the date of commencement of their professional activity, through an indefinite or fixed-term employment contract or the ESTAGIAR L and T programs, including young people who started their activity on or after January 1, 2024, are eligible for the Salary Enhancement Measure.

Young people who started their professional activity through fixed-term contracts with a minimum expected duration of 12 months, as well as situations of contractual conversion (i.e., from a fixed-term contract to an indefinite contract), are also eligible, by the Regulation published in the Official Journal on July 9.

To ensure greater accessibility and flexibility for applicants for this unprecedented measure in the Region, the application period has been extended from 30 to 60 days after the start of professional activity.

Among the improvements introduced in the new Regulation, so that even more young people can benefit with predictability and effectiveness from a measure that encourages their stabilization and long-term retention in employers in the Region, are adjustments to the timing and percentages of support payments and the extension of the deadline for resuming activity to up to 90 working days in the event of interruption of activity.

According to Maria João Carreiro, Regional Secretary for Youth, Housing, and Employment, “this measure aims to reward the pursuit of studies, retain young talent in the region, and contribute to the salary enhancement of qualified young people who choose to pursue their professional activity in the Azores.”

The Salary Enhancement Measure is implemented through the Regional Directorate for Professional Qualification and Employment.

The “+ Jovem” package is an initiative of the PSD/CDS/PPM coalition government, created by a Government Council Resolution of July 18, 2024, under a commitment made in the Program of the XIV Government of the Azores, and includes, among others, the “Regressa a Casa” (Return Home) measure.

In Diário dos Açores, Paulo Viveiros, director.

Translated to English as a community outreach program from the Portuguese Beyond Borders Institute (PBBI) and the Modern and Classical Languages and Literatures Department (MCLL) as part of Bruma Publication and ADMA (Azores-Diaspora Media Alliance) at California State University, Fresno, PBBI thanks Luso Financial for sponsoring NOVIDADES.