Greeks’ short working life
The working life of the Greeks is relatively short, just over 34 years, a phenomenon that becomes even more pronounced if compared to other countries, such as the Netherlands, Sweden and also Denmark, where people work for over 40 years.
According to Eurostat data, the average length of working life in Europe is 36.9 years; however this varies between EU countries. The working life of Greeks, according to the 2023 data collected by Eurostat, is 34.2 years, while the working life of a Dutch person reaches 43.7 years, a Swede 43.1 and a Dane 41.3 years. On the contrary, the length of working life in Romania (32.2 years), Italy (32.9 years) and Croatia (34 years) is even lower than in Greece.
The relatively short working life of Greeks reflects all the weaknesses presented by the domestic labor market and, more broadly, the country’s production model. First, young people are slow to enter the labor market, as one in two young people aged 20 to 29 does not work, while of the total population of the so-called Generation Z about 350,000 do not even look for work and are classified in the so-called economically inactive segment of the population.
Greece, despite the progress it has made in recent years, still maintains one of the lowest youth employment rates. The 2023 figures bring Greece to third place from the end, with an employment rate of 52.6%. Only Italy ranks lower with 49.4%, and non-EU member Bosnia with 45.6%. Despite the country’s low performance compared to the rest of Europe, there has been a significant improvement, given that during the economic crisis, the employment of young people in their 20s fell to dramatic levels.
In addition to the conclusions drawn from the official figures, bodies such as Eurostat do not count in their relevant measurements the so-called illegal labor found mainly in tourism: While in 2023 548,000 young people in their 20s were employed, there is also another part of the population that works, but is not recorded anywhere.
