Employee Leasing in Portugal

Start working with your tech team fast and fully legal. Leasing delivers a full setup in 7 days, with no need to open a local office.

Adoppler
Trusted Insight
Traveling Spoon
Savveo
Pluto TV
Rubicon Project
Pebble Post
Natify
Black Beacon
BBG
MediaMath

Start with leased tech talent

If you already have a developer or want to bring one on for a project, we make it official. GEOR becomes the legal employer — we handle contracts, registration, taxes, and benefits under Portuguese law.

  • Onboard your own candidate or choose from a pool of 40,000+ tech professionals.
  • A fully legal setup for your next sprint or long-term hire in Portugal.
  • No stress over contracts, payroll, taxes, or benefits — with automated reports and deductions.

Portugal

Built for balanced tech pace

Portugal combines a developer-friendly culture with strong legal structure and skilled English-speaking engineers in various fields. Portuguese employment laws are clear and enforceable, and the system supports stability, without slowing down remote teams or global companies. That makes Portugal an ideal base for expanding tech operations across Europe.

Where IT talent is based

The tech market here spans AI, clean tech, product design, SaaS, and many more. Lisbon is the hub for scaleups and remote engineering. Porto blends traditional industries with strong backend and infrastructure teams. Braga and Coimbra offer close ties to universities and R&D, while Faro is emerging as a cost-effective destination for nearshore teams. Compared to other Western EU markets, developer salaries in Portugal remain lower, while access to skilled talent stays high.

Typical IT salaries across Portugal

Salaries below reflect approximate gross yearly earnings for common tech roles in key Portuguese cities.

City Base Top
Lisbon €25k €55k
Porto €23k €52k
Braga €21k €48k
Coimbra €20k €45k
Faro €19k €43k

Note: Figures represent gross annual salary ranges for most software engineering roles in 2025. Senior AI, DevOps, or security positions may exceed this range. Social contributions and benefits are paid on top. Actual pay may vary depending on role complexity, sector, and employment type.

Hidden blockers in Portuguese hiring

For companies new to Portugal, direct hiring can become costly, slow, and risky, especially without legal partners familiar with tech-specific employment.

Legal setup delays

Before you can make an offer, you need a Portuguese entity and full employer registration.

Payroll and tax complexity

Employers must apply local rules for allowances, extra salaries, and monthly filings.

Regional talent unnoticed

Skilled people often stay out of reach when recruiters focus only on Lisbon and Porto.

Contracts need context

Portuguese contracts must reflect real benefits and match national labor law.

Local HR is required

You need to manage vacation, sick days, and holidays by the local rules.

Scaling roadblocks

Fixed contracts and notice periods make it hard to grow and shift.

Why lease employees in Portugal?

Employee leasing removes extra complexity from hiring in Portugal and opens access to regions often overlooked by global recruiters. Here is how it’s structured:

Aspect Employee leasing Direct recruitment
Hiring registration Handled by GEOR Local office needed
Pay and monthly contributions Paid and filed by GEOR Managed internally
Benefits and coverage Included in leasing model Managed internally
Worker setup speed 1 week 6–12 weeks
Adding people Flexible and fast Can be slow, with strict contract terms
Providing Workforce Management Solutions_1
Providing Workforce Management Solutions_2

Want to hire engineers in Portugal?

We will do it for you.

How leasing supports tech hiring

Employee leasing helps you hire faster and stay flexible, whether you’re scaling or just entering Portugal. It works well for teams of any size.

01

Startups

  • Get devs without a local company.
  • Match team size to your sprints.
  • Stay lean and agile.
02

Mid-sized businesses

  • Fill short-term or regional roles.
  • Enter new markets without risk.
  • Get talent without long-term obligations.
03

Enterprises

  • Grow without opening branches.
  • Offload payroll and HR.
  • Control workforce costs.

What you get with leasing

Our employee leasing model offers local support and takes the stress out of tech hiring in Portugal. We cover the full scope of employment needs, keeping everything aligned with Portuguese law.

  • Tech talent matched to your stack and growth stage.
  • Registration with full documentation and ID setup.
  • Payroll, taxes, and pension filings managed monthly.
  • Benefits, leave, perks, and allowances included.
  • Local HR for smooth team integration.
  • Employee data managed securely under GDPR.

Hiring developers
in Portugal?

Lease tech talent for projects or long-term roles across the mainland and islands through GEOR. Talk to us to see how this model fits your goals.

Optimize Your HR Operations

Client Feedback

Rob Brearley
Rob Brearley
CEO
ShopWired

GEOR is a cohesive software team that truly understood our idea, provided realistic timelines, and offered innovative suggestions for our software development project. Their work quality and responsiveness were topnotch, and I would highly recommend them to others.

Allen Wright
Allen Wright
Senior Vice President
HealthTrust Performance Group

Fantastic, constant communication and exchange of information, high efficiency in the execution of tasks, speed in action great cooperation and mutual understanding. I really like the quality of the candidates they were able to bring.

Greg Tearne
Greg Tearne
Chief Executive Officer
Altapac Group

They go above and beyond with their service delivery. My initial expectations have not only been met but exceeded to a level I didn’t think possible.

JJ Garofalo
JJ Garofalo
Chief Executive Officer
Legal Resources

They did a great job! Plan to use them in the future for more hiring. I like how they ask a lot of questions about what we needed, and then followed up quickly with results.

Megan Giacobetti
Megan Giacobetti
Autopilot Intern
Tesla

We were impressed by their professionalism and dedication to our needs. Everything was super. We are completely satisfied with the collaboration.

Patrik Hansson
Patrik Hansson
Chief Product Officer
Fimento

They understood our needs. They guided us from the start, they explained everything and shared their insights on the market and finally they provided results faster than we expected.

Pat Williams
Pat Williams
Chief Executive Officer
iScribeHealth

They help us provide Developer staff augmentation for our growing product development division. Compared to other offshore vendors, I don’t have to explain things to them as much because they seem to understand right away.

Jason Schwartz
Jason Schwartz
Creative Director
Bright Bright Great

They provided innovative outputs and always meet the deadlines. Most of all, they have a deep understanding of the client’s business, allowing them to process things exceptionally.

David C Peterson
David C Peterson
CTO
PebblePost

The GEOR team was essentially an extension of our team. They found highly skilled engineers to manage core project goals, supporting the development of a scalable and reliable platform.

Join the Portuguese tech scene

You don’t need to relocate or open a company to be part of Portugal’s innovative tech landscape. Work at your own pace while syncing with Portuguese balance, infrastructure, and growing EU digital economy. With leased talent across any tech role and region, you can build with confidence while we keep your team supported and thriving.

GEOR

Portuguese hiring done right.

No more setup struggles.

FAQs

What is employee leasing in Portugal?

Employee leasing is a hiring model where GEOR becomes the legal employer and HR provider in Portugal. We set up each hire and handle payroll, tax, and benefits. You lead the work and manage the team day to day.

Can I lease employees without a Portuguese entity?

Yes, with an employee leasing partner, you don’t need a local company. GEOR hires the worker and takes care of the legal side of employment, as the official employer on the ground.

How does GEOR stay compliant in Portugal?

For each hire, we follow standard Portuguese practices on contracts, taxes, and working conditions.

How does employee leasing work in tech?

You define the role. We suggest tech candidates from Portugal. Once you choose someone, we hire them and support everything around their employment.

Which companies benefit from leasing?

Startups, tech teams, and international companies entering Portugal, especially those that need fast hires or flexible contracts.

Can leased employees work remotely?

Employee leasing supports remote and hybrid setups, as long as everything follows Portuguese labor and tax rules.

How fast can leased software engineers start?

With employee leasing, most are ready within 7 business days, depending on role and document readiness.

Can leased developers be hired full-time later?

Yes, you can extend, offboard, or convert them to permanent employment at the end of the leasing term.

How is payroll handled for leased developers?

We register the worker, calculate social contributions, manage pensions, and send monthly payslips in line with Portuguese law.

Do leased developers get benefits?

Yes, through our employee leasing model, we cover paid leave, pensions, and offer optional perks like wellness budgets and private health insurance.

What is the average cost of employee leasing in Portugal?

It usually adds 8–15% to the gross salary. This includes our fee, social contributions, and benefits. Check rates in our cost calculator or ask us for an estimate.

Is employee leasing better than direct hiring?

If you want to move fast and stay flexible without building HR infrastructure, leasing is often the better option.

What is the difference from staffing agencies?

Staffing agencies introduce candidates. Employee leasing through GEOR means we become the employer, taking care of contracts, benefits, payroll, and legal compliance.

How do I get started with employee leasing?

Fill out the contact form, or book a call. We’ll scope the role, match talent, and get your team working in about a week.