In November 2025 I was invited by Andreas Ganswindt, founder of nearshorefriends, to a business dinner in Tervuren, Belgium. With me were fifteen experts of different domains...
INTERNATIONAL TECH TALENT
Portugal combines local expertise with an increasingly international talent pool. Around 30% of the country’s 96,000 annual graduates are in STEM fields, while international students account for 16% of higher-education enrolments. This creates a diverse pipeline for Software Development, Engineering, Product and Project roles.
And that talent enters a market where tech companies are being built and scaled: Portugal counts 5,091 active start-ups and six unicorns, with around 70% founded within the last five years. For companies looking for experienced professionals, that means access to talent shaped by fast-moving, international tech environments.
Some of the names behind that ecosystem may already sound familiar: Paulo Rosado built OutSystems into a global enterprise software platform. Nuno Sebastião, Paulo Marques and Pedro Bizarro founded AI fraud-prevention unicorn Feedzai, while Virgílio Bento took Portuguese-founded Sword Health onto the global stage.
At a Glance
Location
Time Zone
Talent Pool
Cost
Languages
Cultural Fit
Advantages
Portugal has attracted professionals from different countries for years. This gives companies access to talent accustomed to international collaboration, different cultures and English-speaking project environments.
Tech companies, scale-ups, international development centres and universities have created a diverse market. The share of ICT specialists in employment is now above the EU average and continues to develop positively.
Portugal ranks among the leading countries internationally for English proficiency. For distributed collaboration, this means fewer language barriers in meetings, workshops and day-to-day communication – particularly valuable in complex projects.
Portugal combines the advantages of an EU location with only a one-hour time difference to Germany. This facilitates day-to-day collaboration as well as in-person meetings and close coordination across locations.
Johannes Krüger
With our presence in Funchal, we know the local market and the people behind it. We combine this network with our experience from German tech projects, creating direct access to relevant talent.
We start with your specific requirements: Which expertise is missing? What role needs to be covered? What kind of collaboration does the project require? Based on this, we search specifically – including beyond the usual candidate pools.
We understand the requirements and quality expectations of German companies while also knowing the local market. This interface helps clarify expectations early and makes cross-border collaboration easier.
Finding the right match is the starting point. We continue to support the setup around your specialists – from onboarding and local employment to smooth day-to-day collaboration.
Keep reading
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