As in many other countries, Portugal has experienced an unprecedented health, economic and social situation over the past three months. This assessment addresses core issues relating to the direct and indirect labour market effects of the COVID-19 pandemic; identifying the workers most at risk and reviewing the policy response. It relies upon the collection and analysis of available data as well as discussion and consultations with policy-makers, representatives of employers’ and workers’ organizations, including at the sectoral level, and a wide range of practitioners and experts.

The Portuguese assessment shows how a commitment to tripartite social dialogue and broad-based consensus helped steer the response to the crisis, fine-tuning policy measures to economic and social needs and developing innovative solutions such as the simplified temporary lay-off scheme. It also suggests that changes took place in the perception of the value of public services - such as health, education, labour contracts, occupational safety and health and scientific research - and new opportunities emerged to accelerate desirable changes in the design of the recovery process - towards e-government, productive diversification to greener industries and better social protection.