Training and Employment in Greece
Looking for a job and issues that concern the employed are considered in Greece, and not unfairly, as the most important thinking in a productive age. This is not surprising at all, since Greece has been in a state of economic and investment instability for a long time.
The proportion of people fully employed is relatively small, especially in relation to other developed EU countries, while the number of people who feel insecure about their job positions in the future is high.
This insecurity has a negative impact not only on the labor sector, but also on the economy.
In a recent Eurostat (2018), survey (2018), there is a decline in the quality level of education, as well as the performance and skills of Greek students. This, combined with the drop in the number of young employments whose skills are sufficient for the needs of their jobs, creates a climate of discouragement.
This is the reason, since 2009, why young people with skills and qualifications that are not integrated into the Greek labor market, choose to search for work in foreign countries (Brain Drain).
Source: Hellenic Federation of Enterprises | SEV
The above elements, of course, are well-known.
For this, it has often mentioned how crucial it is to tackle the inadequacy of the education and training system.
At the same time, the retraining and lifelong learning system should be strengthened and futher supported to provide the skills needed to absorb unemployment, digitize the economy and deminish the brain drain.
The big question is, what are the skills that need to be produced and will determine the working future of our country?
It is mentioned in this Cedefop study in 2018, that next year there will be a 6.5% increase in employment, twice as high as the one expected in Europe as a Union. The sectors that will see the fastest growth will be the technology, industry and transport industries (logistics). A big increase will also be observed in entrepreneurship with a focus on services.
The imminent rise that is expected to happen will create a significant number of new jobs and address employers with high communication and technology skills.
Paradoxically, though very encouraging, Athens is ranked as number one among 90 cities in the world, in a relevant survey by INSEAD and ADECCO, regarding the willingness of talented people to choose it as a city of establishment. This must motivate us to shield this result in practice:
To turn Athens into a city-hub – research and technology hub – for young people in Greece and abroad who have high skills.
It is important that this trend is recorded despite the general bad climate and the complete absence of a coherent “talent hold” incentive strategy in the country, similar to that applied by many other European countries.
P.G.A. & E.L.
