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Countries compete to keep skilled young workers

EU nations hope that tax benefits might encourage young, skilled workers to stay, but will they work?

A two-year job experience in Portugal while Mr Dias was concluding his masters at Lisbon's Instituto Superior Técnico cemented his conviction: his yearly income amounted to €35,000 ($36,000; £29,000). In 2020, the administration led by the Socialist Party's Antonio Costa launched IRS Jovem, a programme of tax reductions for workers less than 30 years old and tiered by level of education. Mr Vasques, also a former secretary of state for tax affairs in the early 2010s, adds: "I also cannot imagine a young professional deciding to move to Portugal just because of an extra couple hundred euros at the end of the year.

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