Thousands of jobs lost at small firms
The sign on this shop window reads ?The crisis is closing us down,? as over 135,000 jobs have been lost at small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in Greece since the start of the economic crunch in late 2008, according to an estimate by the European Commission.
From 2008 to 2010 the added value of the sector declined by 3.8 percent, according to Brussels, which also expects the number of SMEs in Greece to fall 3.3 percent this year. Employment is seen shrinking at an annual clip of 2.8 percent by the end of the year.
The SME sector in Greece employs over 85 percent of workers, against a European Union average of 66.9 percent.
