Portugal can’t “retain talent” says ex-business school dean

Despite educating record numbers of students in areas such as economics and business management, Portugal’s companies and establishments are unable to match the opportunities and salaries within the country to retain them.

This is the conclusion of the ex-dean of Lisbon’s business management and economics school NovaSBE, Daniel Traça who addressed around 130 business leaders at a luncheon organised by the International Club of Portugal at Lisbon’s Marriott Hotel last week.
During his presentation Dr. Traça, who had been the dean of NovaSBE between March 2015 and January, 2023, covered the problems that have led to Portugal’s most qualified generation of graduates and post-graduates leaving Portugal to take jobs overseas.
“We are always educating students who then leave”, he said. “We are training various economists but the country is not growing”, added the former head of Nova School of Business and Economics (Nova SBE).
Daniel Traça said that while talent was “necessary”, it “wasn’t enough”. According to a report by New Men (original published in Portuguese), he explained that while Portuguese academic institutions such as Nova SBE has upped graduate talent creation — in 2000 the working population between 25 and 34 had completed a higher education course was 23%. By 2021 that had increased to 47%. “It is an extraordinary increase”, he said.
Unfortunately, for the same period the number of graduates who emigrated overseas had shot up by 25%, particularly in degrees involving the sciences and mathematics.
The two main reasons had to do with salaries (63%) and career opportunities (44.4%). Although Portugal showed great competitiveness in talent development, it lacked attractive conditions and therefore was unable to retain its young talent, thereby creating what Daniel Traça called “a paradoxical situation”.

Photo supplied: Daniel Traça (left) with Manuel Ramalho, ICPT President.