A few days ago, I spoke with a young woman named Marta, in her early 30s, who admitted that she felt inadequate because she had already worked in three or four different environments without finding what she was looking for in any of them. She compared herself with her parents, both of whom had built successful careers at large companies.
When I asked why she considered her parents successful, she replied that both had come from middle-class backgrounds and had managed to grow professionally and financially, create the conditions to provide their children with an education at good schools, and achieve a certain level of “comfort” in their current lives.
We then discussed the context surrounding her parents’ professional lives. They belonged to a generation in which higher education was still inaccessible to many people. The percentage of college graduates was low and, except during certain periods of economic crisis, large companies needed these professionals and offered entry-level conditions and opportunities for advancement that genuinely allowed them to move up throughout their careers. Those were also the years when people bought a house believing that the financial burden would gradually become lighter over time...
We then brought this reflection into the present day, and several conclusions became clear, including the fact that today’s context is significantly different. Moreover, broader access to education has brought a much larger pool of talent into the market.
This talent is also more diverse. Some young people have followed a more conventional higher education path, while others have had the opportunity to broaden their horizons and experience different realities before the age of 30, making them highly prepared for the job market.
Portugal, however, has positioned itself as a low-wage country, which is incompatible with the quality of the young people it has educated. Most companies have failed to scale or offer young professionals experiences that allow them to feel they are continuously developing. Few companies have truly understood that young people want good salaries, and that low pay or limited salary growth gradually drives them away, but they are also looking for more than that.
When there is nothing more to offer—such as a sense of purpose, a healthy and flexible environment, opportunities for growth and autonomy, the chance to take part in projects instead of performing narrowly defined roles, space to experiment, innovate, contribute, and leave a personal mark, or the possibility of working “with” rather than working “for” someone—young people look for alternatives. And because they have the qualifications that allow them to do so, they leave. They leave the company or, eventually, the country.
Marta said that, above all, the companies she had worked for were characterized by outdated leadership models and ways of organizing work that reinforced the silos that naturally form within organizations.
She also said that she had not encountered cultures that valued the knowledge and experience of older professionals—something her parents had described as being highly relevant when they began their own careers.
When companies “discard” their most experienced people too early, they hurt themselves in two ways: they lose an important part of the knowledge that has accumulated and become deeply rooted in the organization, and they lose the ability to pass that legacy on to younger employees, supporting and accelerating their development.
In short, life is not easy for young people. And until companies understand that their main effort should not be focused on trying to “adapt” young people to the existing reality, as I so often hear, but rather on developing solutions that transform that reality, we will continue to face the same problem.
We need to transform leadership, find new ways of working, and involve every generation in this mission.
Of these three areas of action, if I had to choose only one, I would choose leadership development, because leaders shape companies, the relationships created within them, and the conditions that enable people to grow.
A few days ago, I finished reading the biography of Pedro Queiroz Pereira, and I was particularly inspired by his leadership style. In his words:
“The most important investment for me is having the ability, throughout my life, to create the conditions that provide motivation and professional and financial fulfillment for the executives of the companies I lead, in a loyal, truthful, lasting, and consistent way. It is not an impossible dream.”
Pedro Queiroz Pereira, in Fortuna magazine (1997), excerpt quoted in Adrenalina – Biography of Pedro Queiroz Pereira (2026)
The “formula” is well known. We know what young people are looking for and what we need to do in order to grow together—companies and people. May we have the strength, energy, and determination required to move forward with this transformation.
Perhaps, when we do, we will no longer have young people engaged in a constant search for new environments. Instead, we will have companies capable of offering them a place where they want to stay, grow, and make a lasting contribution.
Isabel Viegas, Senior Advisor and Lecturer at Católica-Lisbon SBE