300,000 Job vacancies – 6 Out of 10 foreign workers in Greece leave… at night for Italy and Germany

Currently, determination are 300,000 job vacancies, with 6 retired of 10 overseas workers successful Greece leaving… astatine nighttime for Italy and Germany. The tourer play kicks disconnected with 85,000 occupation openings, implicit 100,000 workers missing from construction, much than 70,000 successful agriculture, and implicit 50,000 successful the industry. This translates to astir 300,000 occupation vacancies this year, intensifying the despair of Greek entrepreneurs.

The concern and numbers stay mostly the aforesaid arsenic during the pandemic, with the lone alteration being that workers arriving from 3rd countries are present staying precise concisely successful Greece earlier leaving… nether screen of nighttime and illegally for Italy, Germany, Spain, and different European countries, successful hunt of amended wages and benefits.

Specifics successful Construction

Construction firms that person taken connected projects worthy €20 cardinal are seeking an further 55,000 workers implicit the years 2024-2025 and a full of 250,000 employees, with a absorption connected skilled engineers and technicians to conscionable task demands without delays. There is simply a important shortage of welders, plumbers, carpenters, and dense machinery operators.

In Tourism

The manufacture is lacking warehouse workers, packers, forklift operators, and successful tourism and hospitality, determination is simply a request for housekeepers, chefs, spa therapists, and beforehand bureau staff, portion exertion companies are aggressively hunting for programmers and different highly qualified specialists.

The cardinal question regarding wherefore seasonal Greek workers successful tourism garbage to unit businesses has been answered galore times successful caller years. “Applications for unit re-hiring are down by 10% from past year, and this is an aboriginal denotation that we volition look superior unit shortages again this year. The main crushed for the shortages is the exhausting hours and poorly paid positions,” emphasizes George Hotzoglou, president of the Hellenic Federation of Tourism and Hospitality. “Seasonal workers enactment without breaks for 15 hours a day. Housekeepers are hard to find, often leaving astatine nighttime due to the fact that edifice owners request that they cleanable 25 rooms during their enactment hours owed to unit shortages. Admittedly, the implementation of the integer enactment card, which has officially begun, volition make a model of extortion regarding enactment hours. The aforesaid volition hap with the regularisation for reducing contributions for other enactment connected weekends, holidays, and nights. We mightiness abruptly see, nether the menace of fines, galore much overtime hours being reported that are presently hidden. However, contempt these affirmative measures, workers inactive garbage to work. They similar to instrumentality jobs arsenic transportation drivers oregon supermarket employees. They privation amended conditions and pay,” helium adds.

85,000 Vacancies successful Tourism

Worker migration from 3rd countries approved by the authorities this twelvemonth stands astatine 89,000, which concern owners see to beryllium a driblet successful the ocean. Workers who travel done ineligible channels usually hail from India, the Philippines, Bangladesh, Vietnam, Nepal, and Egypt. However, galore inactive participate illegally, arsenic ample operation sites are filled with workers from Africa, emphasizing the request for projects to proceed.

The paradox is that portion approvals for tourism person plateaued astatine astir 6,000-7,000 positions for the sector, imaginable workers stay elusive, caught up successful the bureaucracy of the exertion process. By the clip they are acceptable to enactment successful Greece, often successful August oregon September, it’s excessively precocious arsenic the tourer play is astir over.

A tourism entrepreneur successful Crete notes that helium received support for 15 positions requiring certified cognition from cook and bartender schools, but lone 2 person started work. “The contented isn’t however galore get the greenish light, but however galore really negociate to travel to Greece. Of the 90,000 approved migrations, it’s questionable whether adjacent 20,000 volition arrive,” helium points out.

Long Delays

The full process—from requests recorded connected the unified database for migrations to the embassies and consulates issuing visas—often takes six months. Additionally, different period is needed for a Tax Identification Number (AFM) and the Social Security Number (AMKA) to beryllium issued truthful that a overseas idiosyncratic tin commencement working. As a effect of this bureaucratic delay, workers often go disposable for employment successful August, conscionable arsenic the tourer play is winding down.

“This twelvemonth is simply a mislaid origin erstwhile again. We should beryllium preparing lists for migrant workers for 2026, not searching for workers for this summer. However, a archetypal measurement has been made with the unified database of needs for migrations crossed the country, replacing the lists successful decentralized services, which were precise time-consuming. Yet, determination needs to beryllium a level operational by October 2025 that lists unit needs. Moreover, embassies and consulates should beryllium staffed adequately to expedite visa approvals and much bilateral agreements should beryllium signed. As the Hellenic Hotel Association, we organized ‘Career Days’ successful collaboration with the NGO Metadrasi to enlistee governmental refugees successful hotels. We trained them to get skills. However, the lingering occupation of what these individuals volition bash aft October remains. Where volition they work? While successful the facility, they person a furniture and a meal. Another contented is that galore from 3rd countries, lacking skills and experience, portion earning up to €1,200 a month, person precocious wage expectations, perpetuating the rhythm of departures and the caller hunt for workers astatine the highest of the season,” emphasizes Grigoris Tasiou, president of the Hellenic Hotel Association.

Increased Emigration

However, this twelvemonth determination has been an summation successful the improvement of workers from 3rd countries leaving conscionable days aft arriving successful Greece, seeking amended opportunities done networks, chiefly from their ain countries, successful different European countries.

A Series of Problems

The basal crushed is that a important information of Greek employers—though surely not all—do not supply the basal provisions for lodging and food. These overseas workers person often paid astir $15,000 to labour agencies to travel to Greece. Their backing sources are threefold: a) the full colony gathers funds to nonstop 1 idiosyncratic overseas to nonstop wealth back, b) they instrumentality a slope loan, and c) they crook to indebtedness sharks.

Upon arriving here, they anticipation to gradually prevention immoderate money. However, if they person to wage for lodging and nutrient from their wage of €880, they are near with astir €500. This is not an perfect situation, arsenic adjacent astatine location they tin unafraid a wage of €250. This is wherefore 5 to 6 retired of 10 permission illegally from Greece.

But adjacent bully employers who instrumentality attraction of overseas workers look myriad problems. “We find them housing, provender them, and effort to assistance them integrate into section communities,” notes an enforcement of a operation institution operating successful section projects. “We often brushwood unprecedented issues—not conscionable falsified documents oregon different irregularities. For example, portion the presumption of operator is required, workers from Vietnam, for instance, cannot get the indispensable certification, meaning that portion they travel to Greece, they cannot enactment successful the relation for which they were invited,” helium adds.

Government Initiatives

Circles wrong the Ministry of Migration and Asylum item that a legislative inaugural is soon to beryllium promoted to: a) simplify and digitize the processes for issuing AFM and AMKA for foreigners and b) successful collaboration with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, bolster embassies with unit to relieve their workload.

50,000 Vacancies successful Industries

The obstacles to idiosyncratic recruitment continue. Evangelos Kanellopoulos, CEO of WorkInGreece.io—a level that helps span the spread betwixt workers from 3rd countries and businesses—lists the 3 biggest barriers successful the migration process:

1. Time Lag: The migration process inactive takes 4 to 6 months. This waiting clip is simply a important disadvantage for Greek businesses, particularly erstwhile different European countries—like Croatia—complete akin processes successful 1.5 to 2 months.
2. High Rejection Rates astatine Embassies: Even afloat qualified candidates with certifications and acquisition are rejected by Greek embassies astatine rates ranging from 40% to 80%, creating insecurity and vexation among candidates and Greek businesses.
3. Lack of Provisions and Illegal Departures: Many workers arriving successful Greece extremity up leaving illegally for different EU countries, violating their visas. A superior crushed is the surviving and question expenses (e.g., airfare, accommodation, food, and adjacent visa costs), which successful galore cases are borne by the workers themselves, resulting successful a nett income of astir €500/month—significantly little than that of different European countries.

“Greece tin go a model,” adds Kanellopoulos. “Structural betterment and practice among each stakeholders—government, employers, societal partners—are required for this strategy to relation effectively. Our state has the imaginable to germinate into an planetary exemplary for sustainable and just absorption of labour migration. However, this volition lone hap if we determination decisively, targeted, and successful coordination.”