Foreign subsidiaries employ 571,000 people in Portugal. Workers respond another 404 euros – Companies
In 2020, Portugal had 9,101 foreign branches, employing 571,000 people, reveal the statistics on globalization, released this Thursday by the National Statistics Institute (INE). Compared to the previous year, there is a 1.6% increase in this number of branches (8,961 in 2019), corresponding to 2% of the total of non-financial corporations.
On average, each branch employed 63 people in 2020, “a much higher figure than that registered in national companies (6 people)”, contextualizes INE. The total number of people serving these foreign branches is increasing for the third year in a row – in 2018, for example, as foreign branches employed 513,479 people.
Between 2018 and 2020, the weight of people employed by branches of foreign companies in relation to the total number of companies increased by 1.2 percentage points, corresponding to an increase of around 57 thousand employees. While the gross value added (GVA) these companies received 7.3% last year, for a total of 24 million euros, the drop was smaller when compared to the decrease in the GVA of national companies, which dropped 11.5%. The turnover of these companies also decreased by 9%, due to the pandemic situation, corresponding to 101 million euros. Personnel expenses decreased by 1.1%, corresponding in nominal terms to 14.6 billion euros in 2020.
According to these data, 73.5% of the GVA generated by foreign affiliates concerned companies held by entities headquartered in European Union countries.
Large subsidiaries – 514 companies – were responsible for 64.1% of the total GVA of foreign subsidiaries, generating 15.5 billion euros. This half a thousand companies employed 396 thousand people – equivalent to 69.3% of the total number of employees in foreign branches.
In the analysis by sector of economic activity, information and communication was the only one to register a positive growth rate of the GVA, with an increase of 14.2%. This was the sector that had the greatest resilience to the crisis brought about by the pandemic last year.
Compensation almost 40% above national companies
These data reveal differences in the salary area. The average monthly reduction of companies in 2020 was 1,414 euros, 39.9% above the remuneration found in national companies (1,010 euros). In other words, working for a foreign subsidiary of a company can add another 404 euros to the remuneration.
The apparent labor productivity was 73.1% above that of national societies, reaching 42,225 euros in 2020.
Still in terms of salaries, the difference is even when looking at the branches of foreign micro companies, according to INE, where the average monthly reduction amounted to 2,146 euros, a variation of 163.8% compared to the average remuneration of national companies. In the comparison of remuneration between large foreign subsidiaries and national companies of the same type, the difference is smaller: 1.297 euros against 1.205 euros.
Average remunerations rose 1.2% in foreign branches compared to 2019. In the context of the simplified layoff, 29.5% of foreign branches resorted to this measure last year, compared to 25.4% in domestic companies, “which Reduce the negative effects of the pandemic in the monthly reduction, intensely in foreign branches, “explains INE.
Given their higher relative weight, “foreign branches that resorted to simplified layoff represent 84.3% of staff employed and 73.2% of the remuneration of total foreign branches (62.0% and 65.0%, respectively , in national societies). ”