The revolution brought about by Artificial Intelligence in the labor market, the effects and prospects it creates, was developed by the Minister of Labor and Social Security, Niki Kerameos, during a discussion with the journalist Marianna Pyrgiotis, in the context of the 5th Cyber ​​Greece conference.

Mrs. Kerameos underlined the significant penetration of Artificial Intelligence in the labor market internationally, pointing out that our country has a long way to go in this field.

“And I say we have a long way to go, because if you look at the official data, for businesses with 10 employees or more, about 10% make some use of Artificial Intelligence. Some use may be a very advanced use in factories within industry, but it may also be a simple use of ChatGPT. Well, we have a long way to go, in the sense that Artificial Intelligence has not yet penetrated the labor market as much as one would imagine. she added herself.

The Minister estimated that Europe has a significant challenge ahead of it, as it has a significant distance to travel in order to become more competitive against other continents, such as the USA, where 73% of Artificial Intelligence models are developed.

“This touches on other issues. It touches on issues of competition law, how European law can be reformed, precisely in order to get away from the old logic, when the European Union first started, which was how to protect one member state from another, but, until now, we have not seen Europe as a whole, which will be able to compete more with the other continents”, noted.

Returning to the domestic labor market, Mrs. Kerameos emphasized the need to take measures, which span two axes.

As he said, “the first axis is to make the most of this technology, because it has a lot to offer us, especially in terms of productivity, but at the same time to protect rights, workers’ rights, social dividend rights. All this matters”the Minister said, noting that Artificial Intelligence will greatly affect the work landscape, but also the social security landscape.

In addition, Mrs. Kerameos highlighted the crucial role that will be played by lifelong learning, skills upgrading and retraining mainly in skills that will be in very high demand from the labor market, as well as the need for a change in philosophy in education, emphasizing the state’s obligation to invest in training and retraining.

“Well, with regard to the first part, which is the labor market, the part of retraining and upgrading skills is very critical and catalytic. For this very reason, anticipating this trend, the Greek government has invested a lot of effort and resources in a radical upgrading of skills and in the retraining of the active population, as well as in programs with two main axes: green skills and digital skills which are the two categories of skills that will be in very high demand in the coming years. In the coming decades, we are approaching 460,000 workers going through retraining and upskilling programs. Why? So that they can, so that we as a state can better equip them for the changes that are coming”added the Minister.

Moving on to the second axis that concerns the social security sector and posing the question: How much will the evolution of the labor market affect insurance contributions, Mrs. Kerameos wondered: “We see countries that already have robots in the profession of caregivers. Question: Will robots pay insurance premiums? Here is a question that arises. What about the insurance system? How will the insurance system remain viable when we have more machines, in essence, that will produce a work.”

Answering the above question, the Minister of Labor stated that the job of each government is to see the future.

“We at the Ministry of Labor are doing a study on this. That is, we look thoroughly at the question of how Artificial Intelligence will affect issues of sustainability, social security, insurance systems in general and so on. We look at the practices of other countries, we consider it our duty to do this, although this is taking time, but it does not matter. Our job is to predict exactly all the parameters for the best protection of insurance systems and citizens”.

To a question about Greeks returning to the country, after years of activity abroad, Mrs. Kerameos replied: “There is a great effort being made by the Ministry, to attract back to our country in a strategic way our compatriots who left mainly during the difficult years of the crisis”, pointing out that a new event is imminent that will take place on December 7, 2025, in New York, with the participation of 40 large companies, which they are looking for qualified personnel from all sectors.

Mrs. Kerameos also highlighted a new aspect for the Greeks who return to our homeland. “Those 420,000 who have already returned and the others who will return, the vast majority of them are of reproductive age. Well, think about how important this “injection” is for the demographics of the country.”

Finally, when asked about the changes she believes should be made in the country’s education system, in order for it to adapt to the real needs of the labor market, she commented that emphasis should be placed on young ages.

“And it might sound a little heretical, but if you just look at the medical data, you’ll see that most of the human brain is formed by about age 7, by age 6-7. This also shows you the way. For this reason, this government put English in public kindergarten and robotics from the age of 4, to familiarize with new technologies for example. For this reason, the first nuggets of stimulus for the labor market come in the first grades of primary school. In a more playful way, I learn the trades. But, when you learn the professions, don’t learn that there is only the lawyer, the doctor, the engineer. Don’t get me wrong, I’m in all three categories so there’s no misunderstanding, but there are other professions like Renewable Energy technicians that are in huge demand. Seafarers, a profession which is really in dire need of enrichment, a very well paid profession. I’m saying some that we don’t talk about often, but we need to talk about very early on. If we wait for the 1st Lyceum and the 2nd Lyceum, in my opinion it is too late”, asaid the Minister of Labor.