Nearly two thousand young Azoreans placed in OTLJ Summer 2025 projects - Communication

Secretaria Regional da Juventude, Habitação e Emprego

Nearly two thousand young Azoreans with approved applications under OTLJ -  Youth Free Time Occupation Programme were placed in one of the three sub-programmes: "Holiday Occupation," "Active Youth" and "Summer in Occupation."

Placements should be consulted on the Azores Youth portal, available at juventude.azores.gov.pt. Young people who have not been placed can consult the same portal to check which entities have approved projects and express their interest in developing the project at that entity.

More than 760 projects submitted by entities from the nine islands of the archipelago were approved, with 86% for the “Holiday Occupation” sub-programme, placing 93% of young people whose applications were approved under OTLJ 2025.

The newly created "Summer Occupation" programme already ranks second in terms of young people's preferences, although the number of projects submitted by organisations falls short of demand among young people. Among the 90 projects submitted by organisations, 64 were approved, resulting in placements for more than 60 young people out of the 145 whose applications were approved.

In the "Active Youth" sub-programme, 65 young people, among the 72 whose applications were approved, were placed in one of the 42 projects presented by the entities involved.

About 95% of young people who submitted and had their applications approved for OTLJ Summer 2025 were placed in one of the three sub-programmes of their interest and specified in their applications, which ran from March 1 to April 30.

Since 2023, more than six thousand young people have been placed in the OTLJ programme, which confirms young people's interest in employment projects during the school holidays.

The new OTLJ regulations, promoted by the Regional Secretariat for Youth, Housing and Employment, through the Regional Directorate for Youth, were published last January.

The OTLJ regulations had not been revised in the Azores for seven years. 

In addition to creating the "Summer in Occupation" sub-programme, the new regulations increase the number of grants awarded to young people by 20% and extend the application period from one to two months.

Young people aged between 14 and 24, residing in the Azores, who are currently enrolled in the 9th grade, or equivalent, or Secondary Education, are eligible to apply for the "Holiday Occupation" sub-programme. In turn, "Active Youth" is open to young people aged between 15 and 24 involved in projects promoted by IPSS (Private Social Solidarity Institutions).

The projects included in these two sub-programmes run for 20 working days in July and August and cannot exceed five hours daily. 

Young people will receive a grant of three euros per hour, up to a maximum of 207 euros per month.

The new sub-programme, "Summer in Occupation," is aimed at young people aged 16 to 24 residing in the Azores, who are enrolled in Secondary Education, including General and Vocational Education, or Higher Education. 

The projects run from July to August, for 35 working days, starting no later than the 5th working day of July, for a maximum of 20 hours a week, without exceeding 5 hours a day.

Young people will receive a grant of four Euros per hour, which could total 560 Euros for those who complete their programme.

At the workshop presenting the sub-programmes to potential OTLJ promoters, which took place in February, Maria João Carreiro highlighted the improvements made to OTLJ with a view to increasing the programme's attractiveness to both young people and organisations. She challenged the latter to submit projects aligned with the interests of young people.

Regarding “Summer in Occupation,” the Regional Secretary for Youth, Housing and Employment noted that this sub-programme includes entities previously excluded from OTLJ, such as private companies, the social sector, the media and cooperatives. According to her, it "promotes greater diversity and scope for occupation projects."