Greece seen improving in terms of brain business employment
Greece is experiencing a rise in employment at companies that are reliant on brain power, according to a report by the European Center for Policy Reform and Entrepreneurship (ECEPR).
Its latest report, titled “The Geography of Europe’s Brain Business Jobs,” which is aimed at businesses and investors deciding where to locate or invest, shows that 231,593 individuals were employed in highly knowledge-intensive companies in Greece in 2016. This constitutes a 3.75 percent rise from 2014, when 223,284 people worked at such firms.
In 2016, 3.6 percent of Greece’s working-age population worked in brain business jobs, up from 3.4 percent in 2014. Despite this improvement, Greece remains in 29th position out of the 31 countries surveyed. Cyprus ranks 26th with a 3.9 percent rate.
ECEPR, a think tank supported by NC Advisory AB, an adviser to the Nordic Capital funds, commented that Greece has impressive strength in research and development, with nearly twice the concentration of brain business jobs in this area compared to the European average.
Greece also beats the European mean in engineering and architecture. On the other hand, the country lags behind the rest of Europe when it comes to areas such as high-tech manufacturing and programming.
The strongest region in Greece is Athens. Some 6.1 percent of the capital’s working-age population is employed in brain business jobs, close to twice the national average, the survey shows.
“An advantage of Greece is the lower cost of living, which can be used as a carrot to retain knowledge workers and perhaps encourage those who are working abroad to relocate back home. This is a real possibility at a time when digital technology makes cross-border cooperation easy. Not least given the high quality of life in Greece,” the think tank noted.
