It can be one or more academic titles to secure a place in the labor market? In the case of our country, the numbers say – or rather, scream – no. Greece has one of the worst job performance of new graduates in the EU, with the truth of the people confirming the reality of the numbers.
The numbers:
- Just 72,3% of young people aged 20-34 in Greece who obtained their degree in the period 2020-2023 were working in 2023, according to a recent Eurostat survey.
- This percentage places our country in the top three countries with the lowest employment rates for new graduatestogether with Romania (74.8%) and Italy (67.5%), while it is significantly lower than the European average, which stands at 83.5%.
- In 22 of the 27 EU countries the percentage in question is more than 80%. Malta has the highest index (95.8%), followed by the Netherlands (93.2%) and Germany (91.5%).
- In the last decade it has been observed significant increase in the average rate employment of recent graduates in the EU (10%), which further raises concerns about Greece’s low performance in this index.
- According to ELSTAT data for the first quarter of 2024, the 23,5% of young people aged 20-24 and the 20,2% of 25-29 years old are unemployed.
- The graduate unemployment rate of post-secondary and tertiary education amounts to 17,1% and 8,3% respectively.
- Compared to the rest of the EU countries, Greece shows the fourth highest under-25 unemployment rate with percentage 22,5%behind Spain (25.9%), Sweden (23.9%) and Portugal (22.9%).
Young people trying to create the conditions that will form a perspective for their future face their own multifaceted struggle: lack of proper professional orientation, an academic environment that does not generally “converse” with becoming a professional, a career that does not ever comes – or is replaced by life compromises. This condition naturally causes intense reflection and thoughts in the minds of the young people themselves: How essential is the connection between education and the labor market? Is looking for work abroad the best solution? The questions, many. They give the answers themselves.
“If you don’t know where to go, all roads are wrong”
Athena, 30 years old
Degree: Philology, EKPA
Occupation: Waitress
Athina, 30 years old, philologist and graduate of EKPA who works in the catering industry, comments on the importance of professional guidance and how the right guidance early on leads to a smooth course afterwards. “You will definitely be influenced by what your parents have done or what your friends think. But none of them can give you a clear picture of what suits your skills or strengths. That’s how I stepped on her too. I was good at ancient history and I thought that if I didn’t “get” Law, then I would become a philologist. If you ask me now, I don’t know exactly what I was thinking. Only one teacher at the tutoring school tried to change my mind, to guide me to choose a more “practical” profession, but I was so tired of the Panhellenic process, that I simply wanted to do my computer science degree and go on vacation.”
As for the sequel? “Of course there are people who, in their first or second year, understand that what they are studying does not suit them. That’s what happened in my case too. Then came the dilemma: do I continue, get a bachelor’s degree and try with master’s degrees to bring the thing where I want or give up my school, give e.g. qualifying again from the beginning?” Of course, time is also a decisive factor. “Each different step takes you back in time. We’re talking about years when, instead of being out there doing what you love, you’re trying to balance between part-time jobs, money from your own, and reading.” She herself chose to get her degree, even though she realized early on that unemployment in her field would not allow her to work as a philologist. “If I could go back in time, I would have studied something related to Marketing. Although probably, I would end up with something unrelated.”
“Wages were disappointing”
George, 28 years old
Degree: Marketing & Communication, OPA
Occupation: Workshop employee
Her theory is confirmed by George, 28 years old, a graduate of the Department of Marketing & Communication of OPA, who now works in his father’s workshop back in his hometown, in Ioannina. For the first two years after receiving his degree he tried to stay in Athens in order to find work in his field, but the costs were prohibitive. “The salaries I found in the advertisements as a junior employee were disappointing. It was in the range of 500 and 600 euros. And of course they didn’t even care if you had a degree or not. As much as you love what you want to do, when you know it won’t even cover your rent, do you really have a choice?’
However, Giorgos also takes a step back, evaluating the environment that leads thousands of children like him to the same situation: “For me, the education system is also partly to blame. It should work in tandem with the market. To give you the right tools and a dynamic image to be able to stand out there and be competitive against those who have not studied anything relevant. Can e.g. marketing has a lot of timeless, fundamental principles, but books written 20, 30 or 40 years ago don’t give me any advantage over those who don’t have relevant studies.”
“A three- or six-month internship is not the answer”
Lefteris, 30 years old
Degree, NTUA Architecture
Occupation: Architect in Vienna
The point of view of 30-year-old Lefteris, a graduate of Metsovios, who after a lot of trouble looking for a job, decided to look for a job abroad is similar. He now works in an architectural office in Vienna. The irony is that his current employers particularly appreciated that his degree comes from Metsovio, as the Department of Civil Engineering is consistently considered one of the best in the world. For Giorgos, however, the school he has finished is lagging in the following: “he would like to see a more substantial connection between the Greek university and the labor market. “A three- or six-month internship is not the answer – not to mention what that internship entails, which often amounts to making coffees and filing. Can we get insight – even from the first year – from executives or businesses in our industry? I’m talking about a realistic picture, with its positives and negatives. I think it would decide a lot for many of us, from choosing a master’s degree to targeting a second-year job search.”
As for the balance in this relationship, he says: “I don’t want to see schools end up as pools of staff. On the other hand, however, we found ourselves at 22 and 23 with a degree without knowing that it actually had no financial impact. And it’s a shame, because I really believe that we are a generation that has a lot to give to its country – and certainly more than the circumstances allow it.”
2024-09-13 17:25:39