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Secretaria Regional da Juventude, Habitação e Emprego
Regional Qualifications Passport creates digital ecosystem for training, skills and recruitment
Regional Qualifications Passport creates digital ecosystem for training, skills and recruitment
Secretaria Regional da Juventude, Habitação e Emprego
Regional Government already launched all RRP procedures for housing, totalling €65 million
Regional Government already launched all RRP procedures for housing, totalling €65 million
Secretaria Regional da Juventude, Habitação e Emprego
Azorean youth associations receive over €816,000 in public funding
Azorean youth associations receive over €816,000 in public funding
November 20, 2025
Regional Qualifications Passport creates digital ecosystem for training, skills and recruitment
November 18, 2025
Regional Government already launched all RRP procedures for housing, totalling €65 million
November 16, 2025
Azorean youth associations receive over €816,000 in public funding
News
Crafts and Design Centre of the Azores
Regional Directorate for Housing
Regional Directorate for Youth
Regional Directorate for Vocational Training and Employment
Regional Employment Fund
Regional Inspectorate of Economic Activities
Regional Labour Inspectorate
Employment and Vocational Training Observatory
Azores Training Centre
Nota de Imprensa
November 20, 2025
Regional Qualifications Passport creates digital ecosystem for training, skills and recruitment
The new Regional Qualifications Passport (PRQ) has been created - at prq.azores.gov.pt - bringing together workers, certified training entities and companies in a digital ecosystem for training, skills and recruitment. Presented today by the Regional Secretary for Youth, Housing and Employment, Maria João Carreiro, at the “Skills Network” seminar, held at the Luís de Camões Auditorium in Ponta Delgada, registration in the PRQ is free. It will be available for use from November 24 in computer and smartphone formats. With this new public training and employment service, users will be able to compile certificates from their training history and access training and qualification courses aligned with their current or future career path, with a focus on ongoing training. “The Regional Qualifications Passport is a window of opportunity for workers, certified training entities and employers. It provides ongoing skills development and guidance for lifelong learning pathways,” explained the Regional Secretary. This ecosystem of skilled workers connected to training entities and companies will bring benefits not only for the digital transformation of public administration services and access to documents and records, but also for bringing together talent, skills and the goals of workers and companies. In her speech, Maria João Carreiro stressed that the main problem in the regional labour market today is not unemployment, as it was in November 2019, the pre-pandemic reference year, when the region registered 10,800 unemployed, but rather the recruitment of more and better-trained workers. Last September, the Region registered 3,962 people looking for their first or a new job. With unemployment at a low and the employed population at a high, which is reflected in improvements in the lives of Azorean workers, families and businesses, "there is still a challenge in terms of valuing training, lifelong learning and occupations," she noted. For this reason, Maria João Carreiro defended the need for the Region to "move forward with even greater determination to instill the importance of lifelong learning and training in the Azores," pointing out that existing regional and EU financial resources are available and should be used. The Regional Qualifications Passport was created under the Regional Agenda for Vocational Training – Enhancing the Azoreans. This is an unprecedented initiative in the Region aimed, among other goals, at promoting greater alignment of vocational training and qualifications with market needs and greater social recognition of occupations. The speakers participating in the first panel of the "Skills Network" seminar, dedicated to the "Challenges of Entity Certification and Training," were Anabela Solano, Director of Quality Services and Accreditation at DGERT- Directorate-General for Employment and Labour Relations; João Lourenço, Coordinator of the National Centre for Trainer Qualification at IEFP-Employment and Vocational Training Institute; and Renato Medeiros, Regional Director for Vocational Training and Employment. The second panel, focusing on "The role of companies in enhancing and qualifying assets," featured speakers Paula Stone, Vice-President of the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Ponta Delgada; Pedro Santos, Director of Norma Açores; and Sofia Mota, Director of Human Resources at the Bensaude Group. This public reflection brought together public decision-makers, workers, employers, training entity leaders, and representatives of civil society organisations and institutions.
November 20, 2025
Regional Qualifications Passport creates digital ecosystem for training, skills and recruitment
The new Regional Qualifications Passport (PRQ) has been created - at prq.azores.gov.pt - bringing together workers, certified training entities and companies in a digital ecosystem for training, skills and recruitment. Presented today by the Regional Secretary for Youth, Housing and Employment, Maria João Carreiro, at the “Skills Network” seminar, held at the Luís de Camões Auditorium in Ponta Delgada, registration in the PRQ is free. It will be available for use from November 24 in computer and smartphone formats. With this new public training and employment service, users will be able to compile certificates from their training history and access training and qualification courses aligned with their current or future career path, with a focus on ongoing training. “The Regional Qualifications Passport is a window of opportunity for workers, certified training entities and employers. It provides ongoing skills development and guidance for lifelong learning pathways,” explained the Regional Secretary. This ecosystem of skilled workers connected to training entities and companies will bring benefits not only for the digital transformation of public administration services and access to documents and records, but also for bringing together talent, skills and the goals of workers and companies. In her speech, Maria João Carreiro stressed that the main problem in the regional labour market today is not unemployment, as it was in November 2019, the pre-pandemic reference year, when the region registered 10,800 unemployed, but rather the recruitment of more and better-trained workers. Last September, the Region registered 3,962 people looking for their first or a new job. With unemployment at a low and the employed population at a high, which is reflected in improvements in the lives of Azorean workers, families and businesses, "there is still a challenge in terms of valuing training, lifelong learning and occupations," she noted. For this reason, Maria João Carreiro defended the need for the Region to "move forward with even greater determination to instill the importance of lifelong learning and training in the Azores," pointing out that existing regional and EU financial resources are available and should be used. The Regional Qualifications Passport was created under the Regional Agenda for Vocational Training – Enhancing the Azoreans. This is an unprecedented initiative in the Region aimed, among other goals, at promoting greater alignment of vocational training and qualifications with market needs and greater social recognition of occupations. The speakers participating in the first panel of the "Skills Network" seminar, dedicated to the "Challenges of Entity Certification and Training," were Anabela Solano, Director of Quality Services and Accreditation at DGERT- Directorate-General for Employment and Labour Relations; João Lourenço, Coordinator of the National Centre for Trainer Qualification at IEFP-Employment and Vocational Training Institute; and Renato Medeiros, Regional Director for Vocational Training and Employment. The second panel, focusing on "The role of companies in enhancing and qualifying assets," featured speakers Paula Stone, Vice-President of the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Ponta Delgada; Pedro Santos, Director of Norma Açores; and Sofia Mota, Director of Human Resources at the Bensaude Group. This public reflection brought together public decision-makers, workers, employers, training entity leaders, and representatives of civil society organisations and institutions.
Nota de Imprensa
November 18, 2025
Regional Government already launched all RRP procedures for housing, totalling €65 million
The Azorean Government, through the Regional Secretariat for Youth, Housing and Employment, has already launched all procedures for the construction and renovation of housing under the Recovery and Resilience Plan (RRP) for the Region, with an overall investment of €65 million, announced today the Regional Secretary for Youth, Housing and Employment. Overall, about 150 public tender procedures were launched for projects, revision of projects, works contracts and their respective supervision, as well as for renovation works of housing and servicing of plots to be transferred, covering 767 housing units already completed, underway, or to be completed by 2026, stated Maria João Carreiro. She spoke during a visit to the Detráz dos Mosteiros housing development in the municipality of Ribeira Grande, São Miguel Island. "It is with satisfaction, a sense of responsibility and a sense of mission accomplished that we can now say that all RRP procedures for housing have been launched. This means that the Regional Government is fulfilling its commitments in terms of construction, renovation and servicing of plots contracted under the RRP," she praised. According to the government official, the Regional Government has undertaken every effort to ensure that "the largest ever investment in housing in the Region could get off the ground and reach families," in a process for which the mobilisation of the civil construction sector is proving decisive. "Responsible governance that generates confidence is a governance that does not waste and knows how to use the financial resources available to respond, with increased supply of housing, to a crisis in the supply of housing arising from years of underinvestment by socialist governments in the construction of new housing solutions," she noted. Among the interventions underway in the Region is the construction of 52 new apartments (3 one-bedroom, 31 two-bedroom and 18 three-bedroom) on plots 1 and 2 in the Detráz os Mosteiros housing development, representing an investment of €6.3 million, financed under the PRR. They will be put on the market on a lease with purchase option scheme for young people and middle-class families. The completion of this project has been awaited since 2008. It was only possible to move forward with the completion of this project after the PSD/CDS/PPM coalition government decided to purchase the project from IHRU in a single instalment, instead of eight annual instalments, as the then socialist government had opted for in 2020. "If the PSD/CDS/PPM coalition had maintained the decision to pay in eight annual instalments, we would still be paying unnecessary instalments and financial charges today. We would still be unable to complete a long-awaited project that will strengthen the market with more than fifty new houses," explained Maria João Carreiro. The government official recalled the "challenging situation" at the beginning of the RRP for Housing, due to the need to settle the ownership of land plots registered in the RRP, for which official registrations were non-existent, as was the case with Detráz dos Mosteiros. In 2026, the Regional Government proposes to invest €66 million in the Regional Plan and Budget, i.e. €28 million more than in 2025, to increase the supply of housing for different situations and age groups. This is a joint effort involving housing cooperatives, local authorities and private investment, with a view to supporting families in purchasing, building or renting housing.
November 18, 2025
Regional Government already launched all RRP procedures for housing, totalling €65 million
The Azorean Government, through the Regional Secretariat for Youth, Housing and Employment, has already launched all procedures for the construction and renovation of housing under the Recovery and Resilience Plan (RRP) for the Region, with an overall investment of €65 million, announced today the Regional Secretary for Youth, Housing and Employment. Overall, about 150 public tender procedures were launched for projects, revision of projects, works contracts and their respective supervision, as well as for renovation works of housing and servicing of plots to be transferred, covering 767 housing units already completed, underway, or to be completed by 2026, stated Maria João Carreiro. She spoke during a visit to the Detráz dos Mosteiros housing development in the municipality of Ribeira Grande, São Miguel Island. "It is with satisfaction, a sense of responsibility and a sense of mission accomplished that we can now say that all RRP procedures for housing have been launched. This means that the Regional Government is fulfilling its commitments in terms of construction, renovation and servicing of plots contracted under the RRP," she praised. According to the government official, the Regional Government has undertaken every effort to ensure that "the largest ever investment in housing in the Region could get off the ground and reach families," in a process for which the mobilisation of the civil construction sector is proving decisive. "Responsible governance that generates confidence is a governance that does not waste and knows how to use the financial resources available to respond, with increased supply of housing, to a crisis in the supply of housing arising from years of underinvestment by socialist governments in the construction of new housing solutions," she noted. Among the interventions underway in the Region is the construction of 52 new apartments (3 one-bedroom, 31 two-bedroom and 18 three-bedroom) on plots 1 and 2 in the Detráz os Mosteiros housing development, representing an investment of €6.3 million, financed under the PRR. They will be put on the market on a lease with purchase option scheme for young people and middle-class families. The completion of this project has been awaited since 2008. It was only possible to move forward with the completion of this project after the PSD/CDS/PPM coalition government decided to purchase the project from IHRU in a single instalment, instead of eight annual instalments, as the then socialist government had opted for in 2020. "If the PSD/CDS/PPM coalition had maintained the decision to pay in eight annual instalments, we would still be paying unnecessary instalments and financial charges today. We would still be unable to complete a long-awaited project that will strengthen the market with more than fifty new houses," explained Maria João Carreiro. The government official recalled the "challenging situation" at the beginning of the RRP for Housing, due to the need to settle the ownership of land plots registered in the RRP, for which official registrations were non-existent, as was the case with Detráz dos Mosteiros. In 2026, the Regional Government proposes to invest €66 million in the Regional Plan and Budget, i.e. €28 million more than in 2025, to increase the supply of housing for different situations and age groups. This is a joint effort involving housing cooperatives, local authorities and private investment, with a view to supporting families in purchasing, building or renting housing.