Hi guys we are new to this forum and have a few questions that we hope somebody can answer.

We are both 24 and currently living in New Zealand but are hoping to move back closer to the UK as we have found NZ to be too far away from our family's.
We would love to make the move to Portugal but i have a slight worry of wether we will be able to get work over there, I am a carpenter and my partner a Beauty therapist? we both speak basic portugese but are looking to study it over the next year before making a move.
We would hope to settle on the algarve and wondered if anybody knows what the work situation would be like? Would it be worth heading over next year and trying to find bar work or something similar during the summer and see wether we can find more permanant work?

Sorry to be a pain guys just hope somebody can help a little

The answer to this depends on your personalilty and abilities.

There is high unemployment throughout Europe
In Portugal (or anywhere else for that matter) there is always work for reliable skilled people prepared to put themselves out and do a great job. Probably more chance of this on your own rather than with a company as most are not hiring permanent employees.

If you know how to market your skills, have some help with finding property management companies to contact. Have a reliable, honest and hard working attitude. Manage your time well so you keep deadlines and promises. Then my personal feeling is that you could keep quite busy as there are precious few good carpenters around.

My local village has a carpentry workshop that has just closed - not because they were not capable of doing great woodwork but because they had no one there that was good at marketing, networking and business promotion - a big shame but not an unusual scenario.

In my view (and my view only) difficult times require a different approach, a different mind set and some confidence. With those attributes you can make your own luck and make things work more or less anywhere you want.

I agree entirely with MrBifes's sentiment....but only if you speak half-decent Portuguese, otherwise your market is exclusively expats and therefore cut by 95%

Totally agree with what's been said! There will always be place for good professionals!! Don't forget to learn some Portuguese...

Does your partner has a knack for designing eyebrows? If so, already have a client!

I also agree, don´t forget you can employ a bi-lingual Portuguese person to help with communication be a receptionist etc. Lots of younger people speak good English here. Go for it