Employment prospects stay gloomy
The 1 million jobs lost during the country’s financial crisis will take at least 20 years to be recovered, the Labor Institute of the General Confederation of Greek Labor (INE/GSEE) said in its monthly report on Friday.
The institute underlined that it will be very hard to bring unemployment below 17 percent before 2026, compared to a current rate of 28 percent, even with the most optimistic scenario for an annual expansion of the economy by 3.5-4 percent. The reason for that, it said, is that the 17 percent rate is attributed to the structural problems of the Greek economy.
In order for the economy to recreate the jobs lost since 2009, when the unemployed numbered just 450,000, it will need at least 20 years with an annual job creation rate of 50,000, INE/GSEE explained, basing its estimate on recent forecasts by the European Commission.
It added that this year the number of employed will come to 3.53 million, lagging the total of unemployed and financially inactive people by 1.1 million.
