Scarce employment opportunities are one of the main challenges related to living in low density and less developed areas. Regardless of the dematerialization of training programmes and even of employment opportunities, accelerated in the post pandemic period, it appears that young people based in Portuguese rural areas, although increasingly qualified, often do not find suitable positions in the local labor markets. Over time, this barrier may result in forced mobility to coastal cities or abroad, or in a NEET (Not in Employment, Education, or Training) situation. Public Employment Services (PES) play a critical role in offering young people with employment and training opportunities. Through the reinforced Youth Guarantee Framework or Social Innovations programmes, PES seeks to reduce youth unemployment by providing young people with access to education, training, or employment opportunities, including upskilling and reskilling, especially through digitalization programmes . Adopting an employability perspective, between 2021 and 2022, this contribution consisted of literature review and 20 interviews with young people between aged 25 to 35 years old, living in Portuguese rural areas, former beneficiary of PES and associated partners of training programmes. It aims to examinehow these opportunities contributed to their insertion in the labor market. The conclusions point to the importance of matching training to young people’s aspirations, to the need of qualitative evaluation of PES interventions and to the prevailing structural influence of unskilled labor markets.

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