In one modern interface hub between the supply and demand of highly skilled workers evolves digital platform “Rebrain Greece” of the Ministry of Labor and Social Security, as mentioned in an event on “REBRAIN GREECE: The strategy for attracting and highlighting talents and highly specialized executives in Greece”.

With the passing of the new labor law 5053/2023, a digital platform was created, for the first time, under the name “Rebrain Greece”, for the development of a mechanism for strengthening the talents and connecting scientists-workers, who live inside and outside Greece, with jobs in highly skilled and specialized occupations offered by private sector companies operating in Greece.

This initiative of the Ministry of Labor and Social Security, which attempts to deal with the difficulty of finding executives with specialized skills, which business representatives record every day, is aimed both at Greeks who have immigrated and work abroad and at those who live in Greece.

The aim is for businesses to be able to attract and retain talent already residing in Greece, but also to repatriate workers who left the country during the economic crisis.

Speaking at the event, the Minister of Labor and Social Security, Adonis Georgiadis, stated that attracting highly skilled workers is one of the biggest challenges of the European economies, “challenges so great that there is already a proposal from the European Commission to create a platform in pan-European level, which will concentrate talent, as the deficit in the labor market at the level of the European Union widens by 1,000,000 jobs a year”.

As he said, at this stage, the highly specialized jobs requested by companies in Greece, which have been posted on the Rebrain Greece platform, amount to 110 and the applications of prospective employees reached a total of 200, while the process of interviews and the signing of contracts for the recruitment of employees concerning the jobs offered.

According to Mr. Georgiadis, in the near future, an upgrade of the platform is expected, with many new features, “that will allow more citizens to be informed centrally by the Ministry of Labor about what talents companies need today, at what salaries and with what working conditions, so that some even decide to return from abroad to Greece, the so-called “brain gain”.

As he pointed out, the more the Greek economy develops, the more possibilities will be created to attract workers to better jobs.

At this point, the Minister of Labor emphasized the demographic problem facing our country and underlined that, for the Ministry of Labor and Social Security, it is particularly important to repatriate as many workers as possible, as they constitute a “reservoir” of labor force in highly specialized positions in Greece.

At the same time, Mr. Georgiadis estimated that, during the four years, the efforts made by the Ministry of Labor with the Rebrain Greece platform, but also with many other legislative and motivational initiatives, will bear fruit, while the continuous attraction of foreign investments in the Greek economy will result in the creation of well-paid jobs.

“With the increase in employment, the revenues of EFKA and, in general, of the state will increase and, in this way, we will be able to exercise a more ambitious policy and accelerate the flow of return. This is our responsibility. We know the problem, we recognize it and we are seriously trying to solve it with concrete measures” commented the Minister of Labor.

From his side, the Deputy Minister of Labour, Vassilis Spanakisstated that the Rebrain Greece platform constitutes an important investment for our country, “as the repatriation and attraction of scientists will contribute decisively to the quality upgrade of the produced national product, to the strengthening of the national economy and development and to the promotion and safeguarding of social prosperity”.

As he noted, all the necessary institutional initiatives are taken at the Ministry of Labor, technological possibilities are utilized to the maximum and, “with a plan and program, we will develop an interconnection mechanism, so that highly qualified and specialized scientists – who live inside and outside Greece – can , if they wish, to work in companies operating in our country”.

Among other things, Mr. Spanakis added that attracting digital nomads is a top priority of the government.

As he pointed out, “the idea of ​​digital nomads is not new. Its popularity increased especially during the coronavirus period and mainly concerned those workers who could work flexibly from home with the use of a computer and a good internet connection. The long duration of measures to manage the pandemic rapidly accelerated this trend.

As many companies of all kinds and sizes have adapted very quickly to telecommuting, it has become apparent that there are far more employees who are not absolutely necessary to be in the office every day than anyone thought. Then, in the plan of their lives, of the lives of these categories of workers, our country entered.

The idea that Greece could attract such people is not unreasonable. Our country has unique, objective advantages. Geographical location, good air connectivity, proximity to rich countries, where many digital nomads come from, quality of life, cultural and entertainment options available, common currency, percentage of locals who speak English, national security, economic and political stability, our national social values, are only indicative incentives for someone to live and work in our country.

Of course, these alone are not enough, especially when some have organized their family and financial planning outside our national borders.

With the aim of Rebrain Greece’s project to achieve the maximum possible results for our country, at the Ministry of Labor and Social Security we are resolutely and dynamically advancing the continuous upgrading of the conditions in the workplace with institutional sections, where this is deemed necessary at any given time and the Rebrain Greece is exactly that. It is a cutting edge, which is already here and is an important part of the working “tomorrow”.

That is why, with today’s event, we invite all stakeholders to become an integral part, a link in the chain of a comprehensive and constantly updated business plan for digital nomads, so that together we can succeed in repatriating and attracting them to work in Greece, all those talents who, with their science, skills and specialized knowledge, will contribute to the upgrading of entrepreneurship and to the strengthening of the development of Greece”.

The head of the General Directorate of Labor Relations, Health & Safety at Work & Work Integration, Konstantinos Agrapidas, stated that the project is quite ambitious and added that the platform is accessible by prospective workers whether they live in Greece or abroad.

Afterwards, Frangiski Melissa, General Director-Chief Human Resources Officer of Alpha Bank, Nico Gariboldi, VP Thessaloniki Site Lead of Pfizer, Antonios Tsimpoukis, managing director of Cisco in Greece, the Balkans, Cyprus and Malta, Alekos Michailidis , deputy managing director and general technical director at TERNA SA, a company of the GEK TERNA group, and Vassilis Kafatos, Partner, Growth Leader, Competence Center President of Deloitte, referred to the contribution of attracting and retaining talent to the development of businesses and the Greek economy .

The mode of operation of the platform was thoroughly presented by the head of the department of research and documentation of labor policies of the Ministry of Labor and Social Security, Dimitris Panopoulos, and clarified that the registration of qualifications and skills requested by businesses is carried out on the basis of the European classification for skills/competences, qualifications and occupations (European Skills, Competences, Qualifications and Occupations-ESCO).

The General Secretary of Labor Relations of the Ministry of Labor and Social Security, Anna Stratinaki, described the steps taken until the completion of this action and spoke of a holistic approach to the labor market.

It is pointed out that the digital platform interoperates with the labor market needs diagnosis mechanism, the “ERGANI II” Information System, the Independent Public Revenue Authority and any other body deemed necessary for its more efficient operation.

Among the speakers were Christos Schizas, Head of Retail Banking Clients at Alpha Bank – Member of the Alpha Ithacans Community, Alexandros Andronikakis, Head of Operational Efficiency and Organization – Member of the Alpha Ithacans Community, Aphrodite Xidis, Executive Director of Desmos Policy Institute , Boston-USA and Anastasios Michos, founder and head of the “Global Hellenic Diaspora” online Initiative, while the moderator of the discussion panel was Symeon Goudrololos, director of collective arrangements of the Ministry of Labor and Social Security.