Talent - Why? - InvestPorto

In Porto you can find a talented and educated workforce with high levels of multilingual and technology skills.

A flexible, committed, multicultural and open workforce that is well suited to today’s challenges of a knowledge-based economy. Porto´s workforce is underpinned by a world-class education system that includes more than 40 higher education institutions and attracts students and researchers from all over the world.

The city, packed full of talent and creativity, has become an ideal location to grow successful businesses.

Available Workforce

Nearly 72.000 students were enrolled at Porto's higher education institutions in the 2015/2016 academic year.

More than 17.000 students graduated in Porto, of which nearly 500 with a PhD degree (2014/15).
University of Porto:

one of the oldest and most prestigious higher education and research institutions in Portugal;

largest science producer in Portugal, producing one fifth of scientific articles published each year;

classified among the 100-150 best Universities in Europe.

Polytechnic Institute of Porto (IPP):

the biggest polytechnic in Portugal, and also the 4th biggest higher education institution in the country after the University of Lisbon, the University of Porto and almost at the same level as the University of Coimbra;

more than 18.000 students and 3.000 graduates per year.

Significant level of availability of qualified engineers for both manufacturing and R&D-oriented businesses and at competitive costs.

Around 25% of the students were enrolled in science and technology areas (2016/17).
Over 4.000 students graduated every year in STEM areas (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics; 2014/15).
Excellent quality in management education:

Porto has one university in the top 75 Best European Business Schools by the Financial Times rankings – Porto Business School (ranks 62nd);

Portugal ranks 40th among the best countries in the world on the quality of management schools in the Global Competitiveness Report.

Sources: DGES (Direcção-Geral do Ensino Superior); World Economic Forum - The Global Competitiveness Report 2016-2017; European Business Schools Rankings 2016 by Financial Times.

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Highly Qualified Workforce

Portugal is one of the countries that most invests on education: over 4.7% of the GDP.

Portugal is a world top performer on pupil-teacher ratio at secondary education.
According to UNESCO data from 2014, Portugal has one of the world’s highest education enrolment rates: 116,40% on secondary school enrolment and 65,61% on tertiary education.
In Porto, 27% of the population has a higher education degree.
Portugal has made notable progresses in education during the last decade:

impressive progresses in science and mathematics - Portugal is now considered one of the highest performers, according to the International Association for the Evaluation of Educational Achievement;
mathematics performance above OECD - 19.6% in PISA 2012, against an OECD average of 14.8%;
the quality of Portuguese education system ranks 24th in the Global Innovation Index 2016;
Portugal ranks on top within the EU countries in number of PhDs per 1.000 inhabitants (1,34 in 2012).

Sources: OECD - Education at a Glance 2016; UNESCO; Statistics Portugal; International Association for the Evaluation of Educational Achievement (IEA) - Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study; Cornell University, INSEAD & WIPO - The Global Innovation Index 2016; PISA - Programme for International Student Assessment 2012.

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Techonogically Skilled Workforce

Human resources open to innovation and technology oriented make Porto a favorable market for testing new products.

According to IMD, Portugal ranks 20th in the world when it comes to the availability of IT skills.

Source: IMD - World Competitiveness Yearbook 2014.

Multilingual Pool of Resources

61% of Portuguese population speaks at least one foreign language.
Learning English is mandatory starting from the elementary school.

78% of the students learn two or more foreign languages (65% in EU-28).
Portuguese people are known for being very open-minded and for having a high level of cultural adaptability - Portuguese national culture is one of the most opened to foreign cultures - ranks 11th out of 60 countries in the World Competitiveness Yearbook.

Sources: aicep; IMD - World Competitiveness Yearbook 2014.

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Young, Creative and Entrepreneurial

Portuguese startup scene has emerged rapidly on the European map.

Portuguese are amongst the most entrepreneurs within the innovation-driven economies - 35th out of 60 countries according to the Global Entrepreneurship Monitor Report 2016 TEA (Total early-stage Entrepreneurial Activity).
Porto's young ecosystem is based on a network of business incubators anchored in the universities, which offer facilities and mentoring to new businesses.
The Regio Stars award winner UPTEC - Science and Technology Park of the University of Porto, already supported more than 300 business projects, including innovation centres, in a variety of knowledge areas.

Sources: Global Entrepreneurship Research Association - Global Entrepreneurship Monitor Report 2016.

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