Greek university graduates are lagging behind in skills compared to their other European counterparts. A report by the European Center for the Development of Vocational Training (CEDEFOP) found that Greek graduates had inadequate skills to get top jobs. CEDEFOP President Kostas Pouliakas held Greek candidates back when it came to meeting the needs of businesses. The problems were particularly worse in sectors demanding highly skilled applicants, such as information technology (IT).
CEDEFOP data shows that business administration, IT and sales graduates will be those in greatest demand by 2025 with the most promising sectors over the coming years being in real estate and civil engineering that will command around 22.67 percent of the job market followed by the accommodation and food industry sector, branches of tourism, at 18.84 percent.
Another problem facing Greece is that of the aging population. The decrease in the workforce will undermine the economy with demographics having a negative impact on the agricultural sector. “In agriculture, there will be 307,253 vacancies by 2025 and this will not be because of the sector’s growth but due to the age of today’s farmers, who will retire and not be replaced by new blood,” said Pouliakas.
Projections need to be viewed with caution as they are based on econometric models that include employment trends prevalent prior to the Greek economic crisis when real estate was a thriving sector. Hence, these projections may veer in another direction due to the notable rise in unemployment and shadow of insecurity cast over the country’s short- and medium-term prospects.
Even so, highly skilled professionals will continue to be needed in the future with their numbers increasing by 2025, along with decreases to the numbers of low-skilled workers sought. CEDEFOP stressed that in order to achieve a greater balance between labor supply and demand in the Greek economy, highly skilled university graduates are needed, and that is an area that Greece lags behind as compared to other EU countries.
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