We are not what you think: How Greece made a case for diaspora to return

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4 days ago

Roughly 600,000 Greeks, mostly young, skilled and university-educated, left the country between 2010 and 2021 due to the economic meltdown. Athens is now making effort to reverse the brain drain read more
Greece is reaching out to its skilled expats scattered across Europe, urging them to come back home as part of a broader effort to reverse the brain drain sparked by the 2010 debt crisis.
Even with challenges like low pay and limited career opportunities, there are signs that some are considering a return.
Labour minister tours Europe
Labour Minister Niki Kerameus is leading the charge, hitting the road in cities like London and Amsterdam alongside Greek employers to persuade young professionals that Greece has transformed.
'People often see us as the representatives of the state that drove them away,' she was quoted as saying by the Financial Times. 'The biggest challenge is proving that today's Greece has nothing to do with the Greece of 2010 or 2012,' the minister said.
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Brain drain
Roughly 600,000 Greeks, mostly young, skilled and university-educated, left the country between 2010 and 2021 due to the economic meltdown, leaving behind a shrinking workforce and a shortage of skilled professionals.
Surveys from BrainRegain highlight low wages, scarce job prospects, and distrust in the system as major hurdles for those thinking of returning.
Still, 2023 marked a turning point: for the first time since 2009, more people returned to Greece than left.
Eurobank's Chief Economist Tassos Anastasatos noted that 60 per cent of these returnees were aged 20 to 44, a key group for the job market.
Government offers incentive
To sweeten the deal, the government is offering perks like a 50 per cent income tax cut for seven years, which has helped about 6,000 people since 2020.
But officials stress that money alone won't cut it—changing how people view Greece is just as crucial.
The 'roadshow' kicked off in 2024 and will hit New York later this year. Companies like Aegean Airlines, Piraeus Port Authority, Deloitte, and Lidl are on board, some even offering jobs on the spot.
Challenges
Despite a 28 per cent rise in average wages since 2016, most professionals earning over €1,600 a month are barely keeping up with inflation. Bank of Greece advisor Dimitris Malliaropulos put it bluntly: 'There can be no growth without human capital,' stressing the need for better pay and ongoing education policies.
One returnee, Avgousta Stanitsa, an architect and AI researcher, moved back to Athens from the UK while five months pregnant. She landed a job at EY through a government career fair.
'The fact that my pregnancy wasn't seen as a barrier really impressed me,' she said, noting a shift in workplace attitudes toward motherhood and work-life balance.
While Greek salaries don't match UK levels, Stanitsa said the tax breaks help her maintain a decent quality of life.