Background information

The growing relevance of areas such as energy efficiency, renewable energies, water efficiency or sustainable mobility and circular economy, from the point of view of investment opportunities, job creation and the profile of activities associated with the fulfilment of goals regarding energy transition and climate action, has to has the necessary translation in the development and deepening of skills and in the construction of professional profiles of future in this area.

Moreover, the current context of the country's economic reality, with rising prices, in general, and energy, in particular, translates into an urgent and immediate response to the need for (re)qualification of workers and professional retraining of the unemployed in areas supporting the acceleration of the energy transition and efficiency. The installation of electro-production centres from renewable sources, investment in energy efficiency, strengthening of infrastructures and energy networks, and the decarbonisation of the various sectors of the economy, requires the training, education and retraining of people in these areas as a fundamental and indispensable lever to protect the country and the people against sharp price increases, while reducing emissions and dependence on fossil fuels.

In this sense, the Resolution of the Council of Ministers 87/2022, of 4 October, which establishes support measures for companies in view of the increase in energy prices, provides for the creation of the "Trabalhos & Competências Verdes/Green Skills & Jobs" programme, a vocational training programme in the area of energy. This programme was created by Order 21/2023, of 6 January, which introduces an improvement in incentives for the participation of companies and individuals, on an extraordinary and temporary basis.

Content of measure

Order 21/2023 provides for the creation of the Green Skills & Jobs programme, to be implemented by the Institute of Employment and Vocational Training, I. P. (IEFP, I. P.). This programme aims at the vocational training and retraining of workers in companies and other employers directly or indirectly affected by increased energy costs, and of the unemployed, with a view to preventing the risk of unemployment, promoting job retention and stimulating the creation of new jobs, within the scope of accelerating energy transition and efficiency.

The Programme is aimed at:

• The workers of companies and other employers, directly or indirectly affected by the increase in energy costs;
• Unemployed people, 18 years old or older, registered in IEFP, I. P.
• The remunerated members of the statutory bodies of micro-companies directly or indirectly affected by the increase of energy costs. Priority recipients are those who are under one of the following conditions:
• Workers participating in the energy transition processes of companies or other employers;
• Workers who are at risk of unemployment, namely due to the cessation of activity of employers in the fossil fuel industry as a result of the energy transition;
• Workers who are at risk of unemployment, namely due to the impact of the introduction of renewable energy sources in production processes, or in a situation of underemployment, with a view to their professional reconversion;
• Workers of the gender that is underrepresented in the profession exercised;
• Unemployed people who have not completed the final year of the secondary level training cycle or who are undergoing a process of recognition, validation and certification of skills (RVCC) at secondary level.

The Programme's training projects are composed by a set of short and medium duration pathways and/or training actions (in person and/or distance learning) in the energy field, namely renewable energies and energy efficiency, with a minimum duration of 25 hours and maximum of 350 hours.

Whenever deemed useful and relevant, the training pathways may be complemented with practical training in a work context with a maximum duration equivalent to the duration of the pathway, being this a mandatory requirement whenever unemployed trainees are concerned. Participation in this Programme gives unemployed trainees the right to a monthly training grant of an extraordinary maximum amount equivalent to:

1. A Minimum Monthly Guaranteed Remuneration (RMMG), when the trainee has level 5 of qualification of QNQ or higher;
2. 85% of the RMMG, in the remaining situations. All other applicable social support shall be added to the training grant referred to in the previous number.

The companies that receive unemployed trainees in the context of on-the-job training shall bear the costs inherent to the training. Companies and other employers that adhere to the Programme to train their workers are entitled to extraordinary support, supported by the IEFP, I. P., in the amount equivalent to 50% of the social support index (IAS, with the value of €480,43 in 2023) per worker covered, regardless of the number of training courses attended.

The companies or other employers that join the Programme and take on unemployed trainees undertake the obligation to hire at least 80% of the trainees who successfully complete the training, under an open-ended contract and, without prejudice to the provisions of the applicable Collective Labour Regulation Instrument, with a minimum gross basic monthly remuneration equivalent to:

1. €1,320, in the case of young people up to the age of 35 years inclusive with qualification level 5 of the QNQ or higher;
2. Twice the IAS, in the remaining situations.

The companies or other employers that join the Programme to train their workers assume the obligation to maintain the respective work contracts for 12 months after the conclusion of the training. The program will cost €20 million.

Use of measure

According to the Secretary of State for Labour Miguel Fontes, speaking to the newspaper Económico, on 19 September 2022, the programme will cover 10,000 people.

Target groups

Workers	Businesses	Citizens
Applies to all workers	Applies to all businesses	Does not apply to citizens

Actors and funding

Actors	Funding
National government	European Funds National Recovery and Resilience Facility

Social partners

Social partners' role in designing the measure and form of involvement:

	Trade unions	Employers' organisations
Role	Consulted	Consulted
Form	Consultation through tripartite or bipartite social dialogue bodies	Consultation through tripartite or bipartite social dialogue bodies

Social partners' role in the implementation, monitoring and assessment phase:

• Social partners jointly
• Main level of involvement: Peak or cross-sectoral level

Involvement

Social partners´ involvement took place in the context of the tripartite Permanent Commission of Social Concertation (CPCS), which includes: government representatives; representatives of employer confederations, i.e., the Entrepreneurial Confederation of Portugal (CIP), the Confederation of Commerce and Services of Portugal (CCP), the Confederation of Farmers of Portugal (CAP), and the Confederation of Portuguese Tourism (CTP); and the representatives of trade union confederations, i.e., the General Confederation of Portuguese Workers (CGTP) and the General Union of Workers (UGT).

Views and reactions

In reaction to the pack of measures Energy to Move Forward, the Portuguese Confederation of Micro, Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises considers that the Government insists on the indebtedness of companies. At a time when many companies cannot cope with the increase in operating costs, the measures announced by the Government, "not only ignore them absolutely, but what they put forward most significantly, corresponds to €900 million of indebtedness in a broad manner for all companies".

Sources

• 15 September 2022: CPPME press release on Energy to Move Forward (www.cppme.pt)
• 19 September 2022: Jornal Económico - Training for energy transition
• 04 October 2022: Resolution of the Council of Ministers 87/2022, of 4 october (dre.pt)
• 06 January 2023: Order 21/2023, of 6 January (dre.pt)