"We want a country that acknowledges those who do better"

"We want a country that acknowledges those who do better, who go beyond what has been done who innovate, who obtain better results, who stand out for achieving excellence, who are the best of the best", said Prime Minister Luís Montenegro at the reception for the World Skills International winners in Lisbon.

WorldSkills is a world skills competition where 64 countries take part. Portugal had 13 competitors and was awarded team of excellence, which meant the Portuguese competitors came 13th in the world ranking and 7th European, stated the Minister of Labour, Solidarity and Social Security Maria do Rosário Palma Ramalho at the reception for the competition winners.

Do well and be good

Luís Montenegro claimed that "on behalf of the Portuguese Government I wish to acknowledge your merit, dedication, commitment, and result" and with this "we are calling on the dignification and recognition of vocational teaching", "acknowledging doing well and being good".

"We are very proud of what you’ve done in the name of Portugal in such a large competition, showing that we can do things as well as others and, in some cases, even better", he added. 

The Prime Minister also said the WorldSkills project "is an incentive to many women and men that are heading towards their vocation, who do what they want and like".

A proper return

Claiming that a "fair and balanced and economically developed country requires all areas of training, academic, scientific, technical and technological knowledge, and good performers", he added that "good performers must have a proper return of their work" and "for the country it is as important to have good doctors or engineers as it is to have good hairdressers or tourism professionals, good welders, locksmiths, carpenters, or electricians".

When "we have the intention to counter a demographic curve where there’s less of us", "we are hand in hand with other countries who do not underestimate vocational teaching", "we are competing in an open market and a Europe that wishes to reindustrialise", "we must overcome the gaps of the qualified people in the labour market, we must reward example, excellence, results", he said.

Reward performance

The Prime Minister also noted the Government’s willingness as set in the 2025 State Budget to "give the employers, companies, social institutions, public administration the possibility to award a performance, productivity, results bonus, exempt from paying taxes and contributions up to the threshold of one salary." 

Although this measure has "great financial impact", "it is a matter of principle, of culture, of the mindset we want in the country", the signal that "it is worth working well to get a return on that work".

"There were times when this mindset was not predominant", but when we started to lack people to vacate your spots, the market laws valued the work" of these professions, he said, stressing that "our duty is to not wait for the law of the market to fix this".