20% of the registered unemployed in the Algarve are from the municipality of Albufeira. This was one of the revelations made this Friday by Madalena Feu, IEFP regional delegate, at the Albufeira Summit, in a panel dedicated to employment and entrepreneurship.
The responsible stressed that, in February, of the 33459 unemployed in the Algarve, 6658 were from the municipality of Albufeira, which, «in terms of weight in the region, corresponds to 20%. It is quite significant», he highlighted.
The majority of unemployed people in Albufeira are women (53,8%), and «the bulk of those registered» are looking for a new job and became unemployed in the last year.
According to the IEFP delegate, «the vast majority of these unemployed were affected by the suspension of tourist activity», and the municipality of Albufeira was the only one in which the number of people registered looking for a job exceeded that registered in the 2012 crisis. /2013.
Madalena Feu explains that “all tourist activity is at a standstill. The municipality of Albufeira was the most affected by this pandemic crisis, which has now turned into a social and economic crisis».
Still, the official hopes that the summer can bring some relief to the families. "Last year, the summer was more dynamic than expected and we hope that this year the same will happen."
There is also a detail about the municipality of Albufeira that was highlighted by Madalena Feu: “there is a very high number of foreigners registered. Albufeira is the county with the most foreigners unemployed, 40%. This is a lot and allows you to define strategies that are better suited to your integration».
For the IEFP delegate, this Albufeira Summit can be a «starting point for what can be done in the medium and long term in the municipality», and the institute's presence will soon be reinforced with the construction of the training center professional, in Ferreiras.
This equipment will be more geared towards the Tourism area, “because this is our main asset”, but will also have the objective of training people in the area of the “digital transition” and promoting lifelong learning.
The crisis particularly affected the municipality of Albufeira due to the downturn in the tourism sector. Therefore, Madalena Feu considers that a «diversification of the local economy and the tourist offer should be promoted, also promoting the interior of the county».
«The local economy has growth potential, namely in nature tourism, handicraft, gastronomy, gardening, floriculture, agri-food, ICT, creative industries, green economy environment and even the stone extraction chain, using the Escarpão area».
But it wasn't just about unemployment. Entrepreneurs also had a say in the present and future of Albufeira.
Ricardo Mariano, CEO of Timing, highlighted a problem that is not exclusive to this municipality, but also affects it: low wages.
“This is a problem, people end up looking for work in other countries, in other regions or in other areas. Much of the talent is there, but in other sectors».
For his part, Pedro Bastos, from Nutrifresco company, spoke of his example of entrepreneurship and adaptation to the pandemic. «We opened a new business area, offering our fish delivery service to the end customer. It was a new area that we discovered, before we sold it to retailers, or to chefs. And, if it weren't for the pandemic, we wouldn't have entered this new market».
This allowed “to retain employment and reinstate people we had laid off. It turned out to be an interesting project».
Also participating in this panel was Nuno Palma, from Grupo Florival Palma, who defended a necessary change for the municipality of Albufeira.
“A city cannot close its doors to winter. Maybe you can't have everything open either, but you can do something during this period. Opening 50% of businesses is not enough. There must be catering at work, entertainment and an integrated action. There are good examples such as Madeira. This is done by involving public entities, with a weekly event plan. If we want to sell in winter, we have to create content and things for people to come here in winter», he said.
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