Purpose: Through the project “Inclusive Recruitment” the Portuguese municipalities of Amadora, Loures and Oeiras worked on ways and means to encourage Portuguese employers to hire migrants and newcomers, taking advantage of diversity. The project was an initiative of these 3 cities, but managed by RPCI cooperative (managing the Portuguese Network of Intercultural Cities).

Stimulus/Rationale: Employment is a crucial factor for inclusion: it brings economic independence, and it is often a starting point for newcomers and migrants to develop local networks and relationships, and to fully develop their potential. However, migrants and newcomers do not always have easy and clear access to information regarding their rights and duties; besides, misconceptions and biases may also pose barriers to an inclusive recruitment process.

Process: Sponsored through an Intercultural Cities (ICC) intercity grant, the project mapped the obstacles to smoother inclusive recruitment in Portugal, with the view to address knowledge and know-how gaps among employers. They developed an inclusive recruitment guide called “Employers’ starter pack”, to provide information on labour laws for Portuguese companies, on areas such as migration legislation and workplace inclusion. Specific information was further developed to target and empower job-seekers. A final webinar provided a possibility for a fruitful debate among cities, companies and other stakeholders. The project was implemented in a participatory manner, involving the relevant local authorities, representatives of the workers and employers, including big companies such as Ikea and Portugalia.

Impact: 

Thanks to the success of the Inclusive Employers’ Guide and with the help of the Portuguese Network of Intercultural Cities (RPCI Cooperative) some additional multimedia material has been produced including short videos and a series of podcasts.

The report can be easily replicated by other ICC members through adaptation to their legal and administrative context.

The guide was published in PDF in English and Portuguese (complete guide) and a smaller leaflet was also produced in several languages, and 4500 copies were printed and distributed to 17 cities so far. 159 copies of the complete guide were downloaded from the RPCI website of (version in Portuguese), as well as 109 of the leaflet in Portuguese, 102 in Arabic, 86 in Bengali, and 75 in Nepali.

The Webinar was attended by 65 people.

In 2022, new connections among cities born from this experience gave place to a new project, the “Employability Networks” intercity grant with Loures and Lisbon and a version of the guide in Ukrainian was added.

Key reference documents:

• Full project report (only English)
• Inclusive Employers Guide (English / Portuguese)
• Brochure for migrants (information regarding the portuguese employment rules and legislation): English, French, Portuguese, Nepali, Bengali, Arabic and Ukrainian