Mitsotakis marks minimum wage increase with factory visit
Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis marked the increase of the minimum wage, which came into effect on Monday, with a visit to the Sun (Ilios) spice factory in Rentis, Piraeus.
“Starting today, the minimum wage is increased and reaches 830 euros per month. Considering that in the last four years, the minimum wage has increased by slightly more than 26%, this means that with this latest increase, it has now cumulatively risen more than inflation,” Mitsotakis said during a tour of the facilities.
He also said that an increasing number of businesses were paying their employees more than the minimum wage, leading to an elevation of the average wage level and bringing Greece closer to wage convergence with Europe, which he described as “the great wager of our economic policy.”
According to figures released by the Labor Ministry’s Ergani database, the average wage in Greece stood at 1,258 euros per month at the end of 2023, up from 1,046 euros per month in 2019. Moreover, the number of private sector employees in the 901-1,200-euro wage bracket increased by more than 175,800 between 2022 and 2023.
“When increasing the minimum wage, there are two things we need to consider: firstly, to ensure that businesses can cope. We believe that businesses can withstand this increase as we have reduced taxes, contributions, and supported businesses overall,” Mitsotakis said. “The second thing we need to watch out for is not to fuel a new round of price hikes,” he added. [AMNA]
