Andreia SantosIn shared service centres, mostly. It is a sector with more than 30,000 jobs in Portugal, 93 operations running and an average of four languages per centre. Speaking German is not an extra line on a CV here: it is often the criterion that opens the door.
What is a shared service centre?
It is an operation an international company sets up in one country to serve, from there, its customers or its own subsidiaries in other countries. Customer support, accounting, IT, human resources, procurement. The work is done in Portugal, for people who are somewhere else – which is why their language is the central tool.
Portugal has become a regular destination for these operations. The latest Adecco salary guide for the sector, from May 2026, counts 93 active operations, run by 88 companies, and more than 30,000 jobs. Since 2015, 58 new centres have been set up, 62% of those operating today, and around nine in ten operations belong to international companies.
Why does language count for so much here?
Because it is the one thing a company cannot teach quickly. A centre can teach you the product, the system and the process. It can hardly teach you to handle a difficult conversation in German.
The same guide reports an average of four languages per centre – that is the raw material of the sector. And it shows something worth understanding: less common languages pay more than English, for a simple reason of supply and demand. Plenty of people in Portugal have fluent English. Far fewer have German at a professional level.
What roles actually exist?
Not everything is phone support, contrary to what people assume:
- Customer support – What is done in German: Calls, email and chat with end customers
- Finance and accounting – What is done in German: Invoicing, collections, supplier contact
- Human resources – What is done in German: Supporting employees at German subsidiaries
- Procurement – What is done in German: Negotiation and supplier management
- IT – What is done in German: Technical support for internal users
Customer support is the most common way in, and therefore the easiest to find. It is also where language carries the most weight relative to prior experience.
What if I arrived in Portugal recently?
It is probably your best starting point, for three concrete reasons.
The work can be remote. Some roles are 100% remote, like the four on this site, and then you do not need to be in Lisbon or Porto, which changes everything if you moved inland or to the Algarve.
Your language is the asset, not the obstacle. In almost every other sector, arriving in Portugal without fluent Portuguese is a disadvantage. Here, German is literally what the job is looking for.
You can often get in without sector experience. Some roles list experience as preferred, not mandatory, and that is the case for all four on this site.
This applies in much the same way to people working remotely who want to move to a local contract, to those who came back from Germany, Switzerland or Luxembourg, and to anyone who grew up in an emigrant family and speaks German without ever having studied it.
What else is usually asked for besides the language?
It varies, but there is a pattern. In the Contact Center Agent roles at Volkswagen Group Services Portugal, for example, the posting asks for native German or C1 and an understanding of CRM systems. Secondary education (12th grade) and previous customer support experience are listed as preferred.
English is where the roles differ most from one another. In some it is mandatory alongside German; in others it is preferred and not mandatory. It is worth reading that point carefully before ruling yourself out of a role.
Do I need Portuguese to work in one of these centres?
It depends on the role. In many international roles the work is done in the customer's language and Portuguese is not a requirement. For living in Portugal, that is another matter.
What German level is usually required?
It depends on the role and the function, so read the requirement in each posting. In the four Volkswagen Group Services Portugal roles on this site, it is native German or C1.
Are these only jobs in Lisbon and Porto?
Not necessarily. Some roles are 100% remote, like the four on this site, and can be done from anywhere in the country.
Is it worth it if I have no call centre experience?
For entry-level roles, yes. In the four Volkswagen Group roles, customer support experience is listed as preferred, not mandatory – what is mandatory is the language.
Is Volkswagen Group Services the only one hiring German speakers in Portugal?
No, and it would be odd to claim so. There are 88 companies with operations of this kind in Portugal. It is worth looking at the whole market.
- Shared Service Centre Salary Guide 2026, Adecco Portugal, published 5 May 2026, cited in Human Resources Portugal – https://hrportugal.sapo.pt/sector-dos-shared-services-em-portugal-cria-30-mil-empregos/
- German-Portuguese Chamber of Commerce and Industry, which describes itself as the largest bilateral chamber in Portugal – https://www.ccila-portugal.com/pt/sobre-nos
- Official Contact Center Agent postings, Volkswagen Group careers portal, accessed 2026-09-13.