Need to expand the workforce
The Labor Ministry will focus its efforts to increase employment on the large pool of more than 4.2 million people who are outside the labor force – i.e. neither working nor looking for work – while the Hellenic Statistical Authority (ELSTAT) said on Thursday the unemployment rate stabilized at a single digit (9.8%).
The people outside the labor force, under the age of 75, reached 2,994,624 according to the ELSTAT data for the second quarter of 2024. Their percentage decreased by 1.8% compared to the previous quarter and by 1.5% compared to the same quarter last year, as a significant part of them moved into the labor force, increasing employment, which of course remained at significantly low levels of 53.2%, while reducing the number of unemployed to 467,619 people – i.e. a decrease of 18.6%.
Despite the new jobs that seem to have been created in recent years, the employment rate in Greece remains well below the European average, which directs the efforts of the relevant ministries and agencies to expand the workforce. This is because, according to ELSTAT, for the second quarter of the year, the number of employed reached 4,327,825, showing an increase of 3.7% compared to the previous quarter and 2.2% compared to April-June 2023; the number of the unemployed reached 467,619, marking a decrease of 18.6% compared to the first quarter of 2024 and a decrease of 12.3% from a year earlier, while the people who are not included in the labor force totaled 4,225,028.
People outside the workforce under the age of 75 amounted to 2,994,624. Their percentage decreased by 1.8% compared to the previous quarter and by 1.5% from a year earlier.
Most people outside the labor force, aged 15-74, have either never worked before (46.9%) or stopped their last job at least eight years ago (30%). Of those who worked in the past eight years, most stopped working because they retired (59.6%). Crucially, 93.2% of people outside the workforce say they don’t want to work.
