Employment subsidy project winding down

The ministries of Labor and Finance appear to be facing up to the failure of the hyped program to turn freelancers into salaried employees, which is funded by the Manpower Organization. A year after the program started they have issued a joint ministerial decision reducing potential participants in the program from 40,000 to just 2,000 people.

The decision also reduces the budget of the program from 156.8 million euros to 10 million, of which just 300,000 euros will be handed out within 2018.

The subsidy program, which grants up to 350 euros per month to employers who hire such freelancers, had been announced by Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras himself during a visit to the Labor Ministry in the summer of 2017. Effectively, the program helps those who violate the law by inaccurately declaring they are self-employed by turning them into salary workers.