Officials fear rise in new pensioners

Officials at the Labor Ministry fear a wave of applications for early retirement by the end of 2021.

The fear is based on a 2015 law that eliminated most early retirement options but retained a few for people wanting to retire before 67, or even before 62, without the required 40 years of employment for the latter case.

Ministry officials expect retirement applications to reach 200,000 by the end of 2021, a 20% rise on the past year. Some even talk about 220,000. 

Since then, the Greek economy has taken a further hit from the pandemic and the amounts required to pay those pensioners not only threaten further delays in the granting of pensions but also bring the viability of the pension system itself into question.

The rise in retirement applications is especially strong among civil servants – no surprise there – but also among professionals.