2024-04-16 03:29:37
Hundreds of thousands of jobs are available in Greece – and the country needs workers. They should now come from abroad.
Greece is desperately looking for workers. In the tourism industry alone, more than 50,000 of 250,000 jobs are vacant, writes the “Redaktionsnetzwerk Deutschland” (RND). Greece has the second highest unemployment rate in the EU.
The southern European country wants to close the gap in the labor market – with foreign guest workers. This is reported by the “Olive Oil Times” and the Handelsblatt, among others. To this end, the government is changing the status of migrants who have entered the country illegally – their stay will become “regular” after just three years instead of seven, and they will receive a residence permit. In order to benefit from the scheme, they must also already be employed.
“Lighthouse for illegal migrants”
Despite these hurdles, the new regulation represents considerable relief for migrants on their way into the Greek labor market. According to RND information, the government’s offer is aimed at around 300,000 people. The conservative former Prime Minister Antonis Samaras criticizes the law: Greece would become a “beacon for illegal migrants.”
Greece urgently needs workers: According to RND, it is not just tourism that is affected, which is expected to grow by ten percent this year but has too few staff. There are also 400,000 job vacancies in agriculture. In Greece itself there are 4.2 million employed people.
In addition to the new law for migrants who entered the country illegally, there should now also be agreements between Greece and various countries to provide emergency aid. There should already be one with India, and Georgia, Armenia, Moldova, the Philippines, Bangladesh, Vietnam and Egypt are also being discussed. Around 40,000 workers could be recruited quickly here. There should be fixed-term employment contracts and residence permits of up to twelve months with the option of extension.