Portuguese unicorns have 800 vacancies to fill

The four Portuguese unicorns Farfetch, OutSystems, Talkdesk and Feedzai have over 800 job vacancies to fill.

Although some have recruitment and selection processes that are more ambitious than others, all four are at present hiring candidates that are strong on engineering and technology.
Talkdesk, which is headed by Marco Costa and founded by Cristina Fonseca (pictured) and Tiago Paiva, plans to hire 500. During the first quarter of 2021, the company that specialises in developing low-code platforms took on 150 people,100 of which were engineers and 50 from other areas.
However, the target that has been set for new hirings in 2021 is much higher. Talkdesk expects to take on 500 fresh talents to beef up its team in Portugal, particularly in the areas of research and development, sales and account management, program and project management, customer service, financial management and accounting, human resources and IT support.
Last year, Talkdesk had a total of 1,400 staff and took on 500 in 2020. A third of its new contracts, the majority in research and development, came from cities like Faro, Évora, Castelo Branco, Viseu, Guimarães and Braga.
Farfetch, the first Portuguese unicorn, is planning to hire 200 staff, 120 for Porto, 37 for Lisbon, 16 for Guimarães and 10 for Braga.
Luís Teixeira, the company’s chief operating officer, says that the company plans to continue to grow its team, not just in Portugal but also in the rest of the world and contribute towards qualified employment in Portugal.
The retail platform company operating in the luxury fashion sector is looking for data and software engineers, development specialists, project managers and stylists and product managers.
OutSystems has 70 vacancies to fill, essentially in engineering which represents 80% of the workforce. It also has some jobs available in digital support and marketing.
OutSystems is already contracting staff for Portugal via remote contracts meaning that geographical location is not a barrier when it comes to taking on fresh talent.
“We had already realised before the pandemic that there was a clear need to look elsewhere and not just in areas where we have offices – Lisbon, Braga and Proença-a-Nova.
Portugal’s most recent unicorn, Feedzai, has 70 job offers available, mostly in engineering, in Portugal – Lisbon and Coimbra.
Feedzai develops technology that supports banks and other financial companies to detect and prevent fraud in payments, money laundering and other kinds of illegal activities.