More than 1,200 young people already received OTLJ Summer 2025 grants - Communication

Secretaria Regional da Juventude, Habitação e Emprego

The 1,217 young people placed in the OTLJ Summer sub-programmes "Holiday Occupation" and "Active Youth" who completed their occupation project at the end of July have already received their grants. This amounts to a total of approximately 252 thousand Euros paid by the Regional Government. 

These grants are processed after the completion of projects. The next payment phase will cover projects that began in July and ended in August, as well as those that began in August.

This year, approximately two thousand young people had their applications approved for OTLJ Summer 2025, an initiative promoted by the Regional Secretariat for Youth, Housing, and Employment, through the Regional Directorate for Youth.

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

Overall, 95% of young people were placed in one of the three sub-programmes of their interest  - "Holiday Occupation," "Active Youth" and "Summer in Occupation" - as 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 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.