A Randstad Portugal study finds that 9.1% of workers report long working hours, a figure above the European average of 6.5%. To conduct the study, Randstad Portugal used Eurostat data for the fourth quarter of 2025.
High activity rate
The report "The labour market in Portugal: a comparative analysis in the EU" shows that Portugal has an activity rate of 79.1%, 3.5% above the European average. On the other hand, the inactivity rate, at 20.9%, is below the European average (24.4%), indicating a higher labour market participation.
Portuguese data reflect an increase in female participation, with the activity rate rising from 59.1% to 75.7% from 1995 onwards. The same applies to the employment rate, which also follows a positive trend, reaching 75.8% in 2024.
Long working hours
According to the Randstad study, 9.1% of Portuguese workers work long hours, ranking the country fourth in the European ranking.
This reality affects, above all, employers and self-employed workers, reflecting a more intensive work culture in terms of working hours compared to other European economies.
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Português (Brasil)
What exactly are "long hours"? I don't believe that anyone working in the lazy EU works long hours.
By Tony from USA on 01 Apr 2026, 19:37
From my experience, in Portugal, people often work unpaid overtime, mostly while finishing something or with a sense of responsibility or empathy for a client. I myself often work overtime, 80~90h of work in a week happen sometimes, mostly due to bad management and lack of transparency, all while having delivery scheduled to the clients. That said, I've noticed that some younger people tend to show less pride on their work, just clock in and out, disregarding clients, colleagues or how well the work is done.
By José Sousa from Other on 02 Apr 2026, 07:41
Long working hours?? Give me a break!! Long lunches?, yes, long coffee breaks?, YES, long cigarette breaks? yes, Long queues? yes, a long time to build anything? Absolutely. Get real people. No one here knows the meaning of long working hours.
By Bruno from Lisbon on 02 Apr 2026, 07:56