More than 150,000 Greek graduates currently employed abroad
More than 150,000 Greek graduates are estimated to be currently employed in more than 70 countries, a conference organized by the University of Macedonia in Thessaloniki heard on Wednesday.
It is estimated that 120,000 had already moved out of the country by 2010.
According to data drawn from a recent study by economic geography professor Lois Lambrianidis, the majority of those graduates are pursuing careers in Britain, Germany, France and the United States.
Speaking at the conference, Lambrianidis said that 61 percent of expat graduates did not even apply for a job in Greece after completing their studies here or abroad.
“Moving abroad may be the best thing to do on a personal level,” Lambrianidis told the conference. “This is not a problem for those young scientists, but for the state,” he added, urging officials in Greece, which has an unemployment rate of over 26 percent, to take action to contain the brain drain.
CORRECTION: An earlier version of this article mistakenly reported that 150,000 Greeks moved abroad in the past five years.
