WHAT ARE THE JOB OPPORTUNITIES IN YOUR AREA? STEREA ELLADA JOB MARKET | Page 3

Economic Recession in Greece
The last ten years have been particularly hard for Greeks,
as the economy is suffering from a serious and protracted
recession. Since the beginning of the crisis (2008),
private consumption has fallen sharply due to falling
incomes and a decline in consumer credit. As the
recession unfolded, labor market conditions have
deteriorated dramatically. The unemployment rate more
than tripled from 7.6 % in 2008 to 24.2% in 2012,
affecting primarily the young people. A significant and
growing proportion of youth, even among those who
would have found jobs in good times, are at risk of
prolonged unemployment or inactivity, with potentially
long-term negative consequences for their careers.
Under these circumstances, the Greek economy faces
two major challenges.
The first is the need for strong economic recovery to increase vacancy
creation, hiring, and create a sustained jobs expansion. The second is the
need for policies to address structural labor market problems to
improve the matching of job seekers to new job openings and to assist
in the labor market adjustments of the long-term unemployed, so as to
prevent the large increase in unemployment becoming structural.