Employment, EU employment rate to reach almost 76% in 2024

As far as Italy is concerned, according to Istat data in February 2025, there was a growth in employment.

Specifically, "the increase in employment (+0.2%, equal to +47,000) concerns women, fixed-term employees, the self-employed and all age groups with the exception of 25-34 year-olds for whom, as is the case for men, the number of employed persons decreases. The employment rate rises to 63.0 per cent (+0.1 points)'.

Comparing the quarter December 2024-February 2025 with the previous quarter (September-November 2024), there is an increase of 199,000 persons employed (+0.8 per cent).

"In February 2025, the number of employed people exceeds that of February 2024 by 2.4% (+567 thousand units); the increase concerns men, women, 15-24 year-olds and those aged 50 and over, while a decrease is observed for 25-49 year-olds. The employment rate, in one year, rises by 1.1 percentage points,' reads the ISTAT document. 'Compared to February 2024, both the number of people looking for work (-18.4%, equal to -342 thousand units) and the number of inactive people between the ages of 15 and 64 (-0.5%, equal to -60 thousand) decreases'.

As Istat points out in commenting on the data, 'in February 2025 the number of employed rose to 24 million 332 thousand'.

"The growth compared to the previous month involves the self-employed, which rise to 5 million 170 thousand, and term employees (2 million 710 thousand), while permanent employees are substantially stable (16 million 451 thousand) - reads the comment of the Institute of Statistics -. Employment also increased compared to February 2024 (+567 thousand employed) as a synthesis of the growth of permanent employees (+538 thousand) and of the self-employed (+141 thousand) against the drop in term employees (-112 thousand). On a monthly basis, the employment rate, at 63.0 per cent, and the inactivity rate, at 32.9 per cent, increased, while the unemployment rate decreased to 5.9 per cent".

In 2024, Greece ranks second last among EU countries in terms of employment rate in the 20-64 age group, with 69.3 per cent, surpassing only Romania (69.5 per cent). Although the figure shows an improvement compared to 2009, when the rate stood at 65.4%, it is still well below the EU average (75.8%), confirming the slowness of the convergence process. The gap is even more marked when one considers that in the best-performing countries, such as the Netherlands, Malta and the Czech Republic, employment exceeds 82%.

According to the Greek statistical authority (ELSTAT), some strategic sectors such as agriculture and fishing experienced a significant contraction, particularly penalising peripheral regions and contributing to the stagnation of employment in large areas of the country. The extractive sector (mining and quarrying) also suffered a marked decline. However, signs of resilience and growth can be observed in other areas: in the comparison between the third quarter of 2024 and the same period of 2023, employment increased in six sectors, particularly in trade, manufacturing, vehicle repair, transport, logistics and personal services. The number of employees in administrative and sales roles also rose, while the number of technicians and associate professionals fell, and the education sector remained stable, despite the fact that at least 15,000 unfilled vacancies are estimated.

However, the problem of over-qualification remains central. At 33 per cent, Greece is second only to Spain (35.0 per cent) in terms of the incidence of workers with tertiary qualifications employed in jobs that do not require one. This phenomenon is linked to a labour market unable to adequately absorb the skills of young graduates, many of whom are forced to accept low paid jobs or jobs in low-skilled sectors such as retail or general services.

It is no coincidence that Greece also has one of the highest percentages of low-wage workers in the EU: according to Eurostat, 21.7 per cent of workers earn wages at or below two-thirds of the European median hourly wage, a figure more than six points higher than the EU average (15 per cent). Moreover, only 3.2% of total employment is in high-tech or knowledge-intensive sectors - the lowest share in the EU. The production structure is still not very innovative and continues to be based on traditional and low-productivity sectors.

Gender and generational inequalities also remain wide. The employment gap between men and women is the second highest in Europe (18.8 percentage points), and 25% of employed women are classified as 'low-paid'. Young people, people with a low level of education and mature workers are the groups most vulnerable to unemployment and precarious employment. It is therefore not surprising that Greece ranks first in the EU in terms of long-term unemployment rate.

Despite the Athens government's repeated announcements on strengthening employment, many interventions have focused on publicly or EU-funded training and entrepreneurship programmes, which are, however, often criticised for poor quality and limited effectiveness. In many cases, training is provided online by private entities, with bland evaluation criteria and not always transparent certification methods. Former Finance Minister Kostis Hatzidakis himself has publicly admitted that the accreditation mechanisms of these courses are 'problematic'.

The labour shortage, especially in seasonal sectors such as tourism, is a growing problem: at the beginning of the 2025 summer season, there were about 80,000 unfilled positions. The main trade associations urged the government to activate new bilateral agreements to facilitate the arrival of foreign workers, in the wake of the agreement signed in 2022 with Bangladesh (4,000 annual permits for seasonal workers). However, the Nea Dimokratia-led executive has so far shown caution to avoid tensions with the right-wing electorate.

In terms of communication, the Ministry of Labour has promoted several initiatives - such as the 'Career Days' organised in European cities with a high Greek presence (including Amsterdam, Düsseldorf, London and Stuttgart) - to attract young people who emigrated abroad during the economic crisis. But there is no official data on how many people actually found a job through these events.

Minister Niki Kerameus claimed a reduction in unemployment to 8.3 per cent, attributing it in part to the success of these programmes and the tax incentives for returning workers. However, a survey by the National Documentation Centre found that more than eight out of ten Greeks who returned to the country did not take advantage of the available tax breaks, such as the 50 per cent discount on income tax for seven years. Most cited family or personal reasons (82 per cent) and quality of life (63 per cent) as the main reasons for returning, while only 38 per cent cited improved economic conditions compared to the crisis years as decisive.

According to a study by the ENA Institute, between 2010 and 2022, more than 1 million people of working age left Greece, mostly young people between 25 and 44. Even in the 15-24 age group, emigration continued after the end of the bailout season, with the rate increasing between 2019 and 2022.

Finally, the government is reportedly planning new changes to labour law, focusing on more flexibility and reorganisation of working hours on an individual basis. But at the moment there is no official confirmation, and unions fear further steps towards deregulation of an already fragile market.

*This article is part of the European collaborative journalism project "Pulse".