Georgios Papandreou, the founder of the Greek political dynasty, once said: “the numbers are up but the people still suffer”. It is a quote that would fit quite easily to describe Greece today because while the numbers for the economy are up but the situation at ground level remains tough for many Greeks.
Last month, the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development predicted in its autumn report that the Greek economy would grow by 2.4 percent next year. The Hellenic Fiscal Council, a member of the EU Independent Fiscal Institutions, said it was within Greece’s reach to achieve Gross Domestic Product growth of 3.5 per cent in 2020 – but with the proviso that the economy must be “able to absorb any turbulence from the external environment”.
Again, there was room for some optimism with ManpowerGroup reporting in its Q1 2020 Employment Outlook Survey that Greek employers’ plans to recruit next year were up 25 per cent on last year, the highest level in 12 years.
And a rise in job opportunities is the best news yet in a country with the highest level of unemployment in the Eurozone. The problem is that it takes time for the figures to take hold and their effect to work their way down to the people who most need the help.
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Christos Katsopodis, the managing partner of CI Partners, an executive employment agency in Athens said that while there were positive signs that the Greek economy was working, there are many people still struggling.
“On Black Friday there were people out shopping while there were people lying on Syntagma Square. There is still a large proportion of the people who are in trouble,” he told Neos Kosmos.
“But things are starting to look positive. I can see more people are out shopping, commercial space prices are rising but the banks are still not giving out home loans. It will take time before the middle class starts to see the difference,” said Mr Katsopodis.
“There are big projects on the pipeline but the oligarchs have to be on board. We also need the banks and government to be in good shape so that the job situation starts improving.”
He said that many Greeks in the new diaspora had expressed interest in returning to Greece but were put off by lower wages on offer.
“We need more scientists and developers to come from the coming generation to push Greece into a new phase in development in technology and other spheres. We also need better compliance and corporate governance rules in our institutions.”
He said the government seemed aware of these issues but: “how much is mere words and how much is reality remains to be seen.”
Maria Karra, co-founder of Emfasis Foundation, a charity partner to Hellenic Initiative Australia, said that while there was optimism about the economy’s future the situation was very different for people on the margins of society.
“The current situation doesn’t appear less gloomy than before, there is deep concern and insecurity as much for the present as for the future,” said Ms Karra.
She said that unemployment and low wages were still key factors which undermined the efforts of people living below the poverty line to move forward.
At the same time, she said, high social insurance-related taxes were proving to be obstacles for employers who wanted to expand their business and employ more people.
“There are some encouraging signs with the initial property tax cuts. Surely, we must allow some time for the new government to apply all possible measures to invigorate employment and provide much needed relief to the medium and small enterprises.
“For any measures to effect positively the ones with the lowest or no regular income, they would have to provide strong incentives either in the form of subsidies or tax relief. No business owner will take the risk of hiring extra human resources, unless he sees a tax-relief benefit or he receives some form of subsidy.”
She said this one of the key reasons that unemployed males in the productive age of 40-55 gave for not being able to find day jobs or casual work.
“The heavy social insurance taxation and the unbearable tax burden on the self-employed still drives a ‘black’ market for a non-insured/non-declared worker force which in itself creates uncertainty and exploitation.”
Ms Karra added that the cost of living and rents was steadily rising.
“People who used to pay 200euros for a small studio are now being asked to pay 300 in some cases.
“We have nothing but hope that the government addresses these issues in the months ahead,” said Ms Karra.
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