In a positive atmosphere, the ceremony of handing over the Ministry of Labor and Social Affairs, from Adonis Georgiadis to the new minister Mr. Domnas Michailidou, took place, after yesterday’s mini reshuffle – a surprise.

The outgoing minister signaled the “start” of the restructuring with the first “delivery – receipt” of the day and made sure to inform the new minister Ms. Domna Michailidou about the pending matters and the “agenda” of the Ministry.

The new Minister of Labor was welcomed by Mr. Adonis Georgiadis, after referring to the work achieved in the previous semester and wishing Mrs. Domna Michailidou a good start. “I am coming back here with the best team, taking over from a very fast and competent minister, noted Mrs. Michailidou, who did not fail to thank Prime Minister Mr. Kyriakos Mitsotakis for the vote of confidence.

The new Minister of Labor pointed out that it is her pleasure to return to a ministry that she loves very much, although she emphasized that it is a big challenge. It should be noted that friends and former colleagues welcomed Ms. Michailidou to the familiar surroundings of the Ministry of Labour, where she had served as Deputy Minister of Labor and Social Affairs, taking over the Welfare and Social Solidarity portfolio in 2019.

Three years, pensions and salary increases in the report of the Ministry of Labour

The “unfreezing” of the three-year and all seniority allowances that remained suspended since February 2012 is the largest initiative of the Ministry of Labor, during the previous six months, according to the account of the work during the tenure of Adonis Georgiadis.

As is characteristically mentioned in the report published by the ministry shortly before the established delivery – receipt, on the afternoon of Thursday 4/1, this arrangement is estimated to directly benefit 100,000 workers who will see an increase in their wages within 2024.

At the same time, the outgoing ministerial staff also stands in the insurance sector, with the most important point being the reduction of pending pensions from 35,000 to 24,000 (-30%). In fact, he adds that at the same time the number of pending supplementary pensions decreased from 65,000 in July 2023 to the current 30,000 (-55%).

According to the ministry’s announcement, the focus of the previous six months was the insurance and labor bill. Specifically:

“With our first labor bill (N. 5053/2023), we created a safety net for private sector workers while at the same time addressing chronic distortions in the labor market while minimizing bureaucratic and administrative burdens.”

“With the new insurance bill (L. 5078/2023) that we passed a few weeks ago, we solved many issues related to pension and insurance issues.”

“Finally, our Recovery Fund target for 2023 in the medium term was 303,800,000. Payments of 299,329,568 euros were disbursed, i.e. we reached 98.5%. Also, another 14.5 million euros have already been signed in 2023 and will be disbursed in the first days of 2024. The Ministry of Labor is among the first five ministries both in terms of absorption of Recovery Fund resources and in absolute amounts. We are utilizing all available European resources for the benefit of Greek citizens by advancing investments and reforms in the modernization of the labor market, training and improving the skills of the workforce and upgrading the service of our fellow citizens by the insurance system.”