Positions with low and medium skill levels and therefore low pay are created enterprises in Greece, resulting in a significant number of employed, unemployed and job seekers turning to self-employment and low productivity and value-added entrepreneurial development, depriving critical domestic potential labor market as well as economy.

A serious qualitative problem of the internal labor market is indicated in the national employment strategy, in an effort to Ministry of Labor in collaboration with Public Employment Service (DYPA – vol. OAED) develop the necessary interventions – adjustments at both the supply and demand levels. And this is because all the data at the domestic and European level show that in practice an emphasis is required both on the development of the workforce, through training or training in new skills, and on the creation of new, high-quality jobs by Greek companies. .

This is also shown Job Rate (JVR), with Greek companies ranking the lowest compared to the EU27 average. This indicator provides information on the level and structural characteristics of labor demand and measures the number of new jobs that are vacant or about to become vacant and that employers are taking immediate action to fill, either immediately or over a period of time.

Over the past three years, the vast majority of sectors of the Greek economy have lagged sharply behind the creation of new jobs compared to the EU-27. With the exception of the sectors of industry and construction, construction activities and professional, scientific and technical services, the remaining sectors in general have a low level of new job creation and, consequently, low demand for work, which exacerbates the problem of a limited relationship between the supply and demand for work and persistently high unemployment.

Since the beginning of the decade-long crisis, the share of low-skilled employment has increased significantly.

Quality issue

In addition to the question of quantity, i.e. the number of new jobs created in various sectors of the economy, the study of the data also reveals an important issue of the “quality” of new (paid) jobs. And this is because from 2010 to 2019 a large number of new jobs with low skills were created, while a negative number of new jobs with medium and high skills was recorded. In practice, since the beginning of the decade-long economic crisis, the share of low-skilled and specialized employment has increased significantly (with Greece experiencing the largest increase in the share of these positions among other OECD countries), while jobs with intermediate and high levels of qualification and experience have steadily declined. And, as the Department of Labor acknowledges, the continued decline in available mid-skill and high-skill jobs has resulted in a significant number of workers, the unemployed and job seekers entering self-employment and low productivity business development. Experts refer to this level as an increase in the phenomenon of “brain drain” with the export of “brains” to countries where there is a large supply of well-paid jobs with high qualifications, as well as the phenomenon of the impossibility of closing 50,000 jobs in tourism. and catering.

Analysis of the results of the Labor Market Needs Diagnosis Tool (MDAAE) of the Ministry of Labor leads to similar conclusions. In particular, when examining the dynamics of salaried positions in private law over the period 2016-2021 in light of the skills required for these positions, it appears that most positions require medium or low skill levels as they correspond to level 2 of the 4 skill levels identified according to the classification of the International Labor Organization.

In particular, approximately 14.5% of the jobs that moved at similar levels from 2016 to 2021 required a low skill level 1 and were mostly unskilled workers in industry and manufacturing, office and hotel cleaners, unskilled workers in the primary sector , domestic help. providers, etc. About 65% (on average for the period 2016-2021) of paid positions required a level 2 qualification and were mainly related to salespeople, commercial vehicle drivers, transport and construction machine operators, hospitality and catering workers, etc. About 9% (average for the period 2016-2021) of paid positions required skill level 3 and were mostly professional coaches and athletes, medical staff, physiotherapists, assistant accountants and business consultants, electronics and telecommunications technologists, physical chemists . scientific technologists and operators of computer equipment and related applications. Finally, approximately 10% (on average for the period 2016-2021) of paid positions required the highest qualification level 4 and mainly concerned designers, analysts and programmers of computing and information systems, heads of large production and operational divisions and administrative staff, experienced accountants. business consultants, etc.