Hiring in Portugal presents a stable but competitive talent market. Technical and specialist roles compete across Europe; mid-market employers often struggle to source qualified candidates within reasonable timeframes, and salary expectations in EUR have risen steadily. Managers report friction around work-permit logistics for non-EU candidates and balancing Portuguese-language requirements with English-speaking technical talent. Raffi operates as an agentic AI recruiter in Portugal, running interviews with candidates who apply to your vacancies posted through Workable. The system conducts screening calls in Portuguese or English, scores technical and behavioral fit, and feeds results into your Workable board—no vendor markup, no placement fees. Hiring workflows align with Portuguese employment law; salary data anchors to local EUR ranges; calendar coordination integrates with Google Calendar for scheduling. Portuguese hiring managers can post once, let Raffi interview applicants asynchronously, and review ranked shortlists within days rather than weeks. The workflow respects local labor norms and reduces time-to-hire in a market where passive sourcing rarely yields results.
2
Cities supported
30+
Candidate interview languages
<24 hrs
Application to first contact
Raffi calls every applicant for a 10-15 min structured interview. Not just the top 5 résumés — every one. Result: nobody good slips through.
Conversational AI interview, rubric-anchored scoring, transcripts you can read. You get a top 3-5 shortlist while competitors are still scheduling first-rounds.
SaaS pricing from $199/mo. No 15-25% of first-year salary, no per-hire kickback. Cancel anytime.
Portugal's labor market is tightening in software engineering, data science, and digital marketing—sectors drawing talent to Lisbon and Porto command competitive salaries. Manufacturing and skilled trades remain stable but fragmented. EU work permits flow freely; non-EU hiring requires visa sponsorship, a material constraint for most mid-market firms. English proficiency among white-collar workers is high in urban centers but lower in regional markets. Younger talent shows mobility within the EU, creating churn risk. Growth sectors include renewable energy, fintech, and life sciences, where recruitment pressure is acute. Wage growth in tech has outpaced inflation, pushing hiring timelines longer as candidates negotiate carefully.
Portuguese hiring demands fluency in local employment law, 30-day minimum notice periods, and mandatory written contracts specifying probation terms (up to 90 days). Non-EU candidates require work visas; sponsorship responsibility falls on the employer. Language expectations vary: tech roles often accept English-only teams, but customer-facing and operations roles typically require Portuguese fluency. Salary norms in EUR are lower than Western Europe but higher than Eastern Europe—benchmark against local surveys rather than UK or Benelux rates. Recruitment happens year-round, but June–August sees reduced candidate availability. LinkedIn and local boards (Net-Empregos, Indeed Portugal) drive most inbound traffic; direct recruitment agencies are common but expensive.
Hiring AI is a high-risk system under the EU AI Act. Raffi meets the transparency, human-oversight, and audit-trail obligations: every candidate is told they're talking to AI, you review and approve every hire, and we keep transcripts + risk scores per interview.
Candidate interview recordings and transcripts are stored with explicit consent and candidate-accessible. Right-to-be-forgotten requests are honored within 30 days.
Yes. Raffi operates in 30+ languages and supports candidate calls in any timezone via self-booking — there's no per-country integration. If you can post a role from Portugal, you can run Raffi from Portugal.
Raffi is calibrated against the major AI-in-hiring frameworks (EU AI Act + NYC Local Law 144) and discloses AI use to every candidate before the call. For Portugal-specific work permits and right-to-work checks, those happen outside Raffi — we screen, you verify eligibility before extending an offer.
Yes. Non-EU hires require a residence visa tied to employment. Your company sponsors by filing with SEF (immigration authority); processing takes 4–8 weeks. EU citizens enjoy freedom of movement and need only to register locally. Budget visa costs and processing time into your hiring timeline.
Tech and specialist roles often run in English; candidates in Lisbon and Porto typically speak fluent English. Operations, HR, and customer-facing roles should be advertised in Portuguese. Raffi conducts screening interviews in both languages, so specify your preference in the job description.
Yes. Probation is capped at 90 days and must be stated in the contract. Employees must give 30 days' notice to resign; you must give the same. Failure to honor these terms can trigger labor disputes and fines. Employment contracts are legally required and must be written.
Agentic recruiting is recruiting done by an AI agent that takes action on your behalf — not a chatbot or résumé summarizer. Raffi calls every applicant for a structured 10-15 minute interview, scores them against your rubric, and hands you a ranked top 3-5. The work happens autonomously.
Most agencies charge 15-25% of first-year salary as a placement fee — a $90k hire runs $13-22k. Raffi is SaaS at $199-599/mo plus per-action credits, typically landing under $10k/year for a team hiring 12 people. Same shortlist quality, no placement contract.
About 25 minutes to onboard, post your first role, and have Raffi ready to interview applicants. No engineering work, no integration project. Connect your work email, paste a JD, you're live.
Free $25 starter credit. No credit card. Screening live by tonight.