Greece Urgently Needs Over 300,000 Foreign Workers to Support Its Economy

Similar to several other European Union countries, Greece is also dealing with sharp labour shortages, and it urgently needs to attract a large number of foreign workers.

Taking into account the severity of the situation, it is estimated that Greece currently needs over 300,000 foreign workers to be able to support its economy, Schengen.News reports. 

Data show that Greece is lacking foreign workers with different skills and occupations. As Kathimerini explains, both highly skilled and unskilled foreign workers are in demand, especially in the tourism sector, from dishwashers to chefs. 

As for the other sectors, Greece needs IT professionals, electricians, machine operators, welders, plumbers, employees in production, and systems security specialists, among others. 

However, despite different sectors across Greece needing a large number of foreign workers to deal with labour shortages, the process of bringing workers from other countries continues to hold many obstacles. 

Due to the procedures that must be followed, the process of inviting a foreign worker to work in Greece can take between six and nine months. Such a long process is making it especially difficult for those who need seasonal workers. 

The CEO of WorkInGreece, which is an online platform designed to match international talent and supply labour, said for Kathimerini that over 2,000 Greek businesses have expressed their interest in hiring foreign workers through the website. 

The same further noted that workers from India, Bangladesh, Egypt, Moldova, Georgia, and Vietnam, among others, keep on showing a high interest in reaching Greece for work purposes.

However, due to obstacles, the process has not been so easy. On the other hand, the case is not the same for highly qualified workers reaching Greece via its EU Blue Card. 

Greece Has Facilitated EU Blue Card Application Rules in Attempt to Attract More Highly Qualified Foreign Workers 
In June of this year, Greece decided to make it easier for highly qualified foreign workers to enter the country for work purposes through the EU Blue Card. 

In an attempt to attract more workers from this group of professionals, Greece now permits foreigners entering under the visa-free regime and those who hold short-stay visas to apply for an EU Blue Card. 

Before such a rule was enacted, only foreigners with long-term national visas were eligible to apply for an EU Blue Card in Greece. 

In addition to the above-mentioned, Greece has also changed the pre-screening requirements. Applicants for the document now have the option to choose if they want to undergo the pre-screening process or not. 

Even though this requirement is not mandatory, it is still advised that foreign workers choose to undergo this process to avoid being required to submit additional information and documents or having their EU Blue Card application denied.

Source: https://schengen.news/greece-urgently-needs-over-300000-foreign-workers-to-support-its-economy/