Huge problem labor shortage face many branches of the Greek economy. Primary sector, tourism and construction are the areas that mainly suffer, with employers looking for staff and not finding.

There are about 500,000 unemployed, according to the latest figures. At the same time, however, 200,000 job vacancies are estimated in key sectors of the Greek economy, with employers looking for staff in vain for years, even in the center of Athens.

Why is this happening:

According to the report this happens for several reasons. However, 3 main ones are the following:

  1. In previous years – it has been limited recently – in tourism the conditions were not ideal: Daily wages were low, salaries were bad and the living conditions of the workers were miserable in most cases as they were packed in containers and worked 12 – 18 hours a day.
  2. The second parameter has to do with young people as they do not go to the fields, nor to the constructions to work.
  3. The third problem is the lack of connection between the labor market and education.

In 2023, one of the best years for tourism ended with 1 in 5 jobs remaining vacant, especially in hotels and businesses in the center that is flooded daily with tourists.

In construction, jobs are behind and delays bring increased costs that are passed on to the customer.

The problem is huge in the region as well. In the area of ​​Agia, the apples stayed on the trees because there were no workers.

The region of Agia uses very few workers of Albanian origin to harvest the produce. It needs 1000 – 1500 workers per season. As long as labor force comes from third countries, they say that daily wages will also fall.

Faced with the huge problem of finding workers, the government is increasing the repatriation of workers from third countries.

With a joint ministerial decision, 32,517 redeployment workers are added, while 167,925 redeployment workers were already approved for the two-year period 2023-24.

Most transfers concern tourism businesses, with Athens leading the charge.

In December, a government amendment opened the way for the granting of a residence permit for dependent work to third-country nationals under specific conditions.