Navy grappling with personnel exodus

The vast outflow of young and experienced personnel is posing a significant challenge for the Hellenic Navy.

Indicatively, in the last two years, an estimated 10% of active people have departed the branch, with around 210 officers and noncommissioned officers (no ship captains) in 2023 alone.

This has resulted in units such as frigates sailing at 60% capacity. The main reasons cited are the ever-increasing workload and, particularly for experienced and valued officers, a high-paying private sector market.

The problem is not unique to Greece; as it is also prevalent in countries with a naval tradition, such as the United States and the United Kingdom.

The exodus, which has created a serious staffing problem in combat units, is also hampering the stated objective for the substantial upgrading of the Hellenic Navy. The issue has both economic and practical implications for the country’s security, since for the first time in recent history it appears that Turkey is significantly strengthening the naval dimension of its military power.

The exodus is only accentuating the problems faced by the remaining personnel. Moreover, there are constant secondments from one ship to another in order to fill the vacancies which only further stresses personnel.

The workload is also enormous due to the fact that most of the frigates are old, so breakdowns are constant, resulting in a sharp increase in work stress. This stress is further fueled by longer stays on board and very short periods on shore duty.

Personnel also cite the abuse of certain labor rights pertaining to paternity leave.

Wages are a major problem too, as low-ranking staff are paid very little, whereas for high-ranking staff, especially those who have distinguished themselves in their posts, there is a fairly dynamic market in the private sector which can provide very high salaries. The salary dimension is not negligible and was acknowledged by Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis himself in September 2022, when he had announced the granting of an allowance for days of service at sea.

However, the way this allowance is granted has nothing to do with what Mitsotakis announced and ended up creating problems for the beneficiaries. In practice, low-ranking officers benefit more than high-ranking officers, as the allowance is taxed before it is granted, then counted as an additional benefit on income, resulting in officers changing the scale and being taxed more.