Labor program giving people another stab at life

A program launched a year ago providing subsidies to companies to hire former drug addicts, ex-convicts, victims of gender-based violence and human trafficking, and others to assist them in re-entering the labor market has reportedly been crowned with success.

Subsidized by the Public Employment Service, it is aimed at 10,000 people, with a budget of €112 million, financed by the Recovery and Resilience Fund.

The workers who spoke to Kathimerini asked that their details not be published. “If you tell your story by name… you will be the one who did drugs,” said one.

“The right to work for everyone, without exclusions, is self-evident,” said DYPA head Spyros Protopsaltis. 

“We want to help as much as we can but we don’t do favors… Because there is a subsidy, we can also give a little more salary,” said AP, a cafe owner who remained anonymous, because he does not want to be seen as a “philanthropist.”