THE lack of human resources it is among the top challenges faced today not only by tourism and catering businesses but also by industry. Recent surveys of manufacturing operators show that despite the reduction in unemployment and the increase in the employment of retirees, many companies are ultimately unable to fill vacancies.

It is indicative that the Association of Greek Industries (SBE) recently launched an initiative to set up a digital platform through which workers from third countries will be able to come to the country in order to fill gaps in the Greek industry, which is expected to be operational in the next period.

As the president of SBE points out to APE-MPE Lucia Sarantis: “Regarding the attraction of workers from third countries, SBE is carefully designing – together with other agencies – an innovative platform, corresponding to the model developed for land workers. It is a digital mechanism that will act as a “meeting point” between supply and demand and will ensure the legitimacy of all processes.”

“Right now”, he adds, “the lack of human resources is one of the most important problems facing Greek industry. Especially in the peripheral areas, because of the demographics. Gaps are not found in just a few specialties, but across the entire range of positions and specialties. Unfortunately, nowhere does demand exceed supply. If we have to single out certain sectors, in which there is a greater shortage, they are certainly the IT sector and by extension specialties such as artificial intelligence (AI) and production line managers. I should note here that although it sounds like AI will reduce jobs overall, according to studies, there will be an increase in specialized jobs in the field of digital technology.

According to a study by SEV and EY for the industry carried out this year (https://www.sev.org.gr/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Manufacturing_Survey_19042024.pdf) the lack of human resources is the second most important problem faced by manufacturing, after energy costs while businesses estimate that it will be in first place in the next three years.

Shortages are found in both skilled and unskilled staff and the causes are described as follows: As experienced workers retire, there is a significant shortage of incoming talent. This lack, in addition to the aging of the population, also reflects the historical decline of industry vis-à-vis sectors such as tourism, but also the significant distance that remains between education/training and the labor market. The employed human resources in the Greek manufacturing industry decreased from 560,550 in 2007, to 334,500 in 2015, while in 2022 it increased to approximately 413,000. In addition, the demand for highly qualified university education professionals has increased in recent years, but the brain drain phenomenon, very pronounced in recent years in the Greek reality, makes it increasingly difficult to bridge the skills gap. Finally, the geographic location of factories, which are often far from urban centers, is an additional obstacle to attracting workers.

Furthermore, SEV’s annual “Business Pulse” survey (https://www.sev.org.gr/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/2024-01-29_SEVBusinessPulse23_SR.pdf) reports that businesses value that they can improve the working environment mainly through an increase in financial rewards (67%), opportunities for continuous development and upgrading of the knowledge and skills of human resources (61%) and support for staff in critical phases of their lives (54%). In other words, they recognize that increasing wages is the main way to attract talent and, by extension, become more competitive, and the other, important, actions follow.