Two surveys about the “brain gain” of Greeks during the crisis

In the period 2008-2017, about 500,000 Greek young and capable people, ie 4.6% of the total population in this category, left the country in search of better fortune abroad. They came from the most productive part of Greek society with 51.4% belonging to the “critical” age group 25-44, while almost 70% were graduates of higher education.

Whether the conditions are ripe for their repatriation are two outlines of the BrainReGain initiative.

The first concerns Greek workers abroad with the aim of identifying the desire for repatriation and the reservations that prevent their return. Although, as it seems, they would like to return to work in Greece, they still want to work for a foreign company through telework.

In particular with the conclusions of the first research:

1. 60% of Greeks want to return from enough (34%) to too much (26%).

2. The desire to return had grown in the last 1-2 years.

3. 31% want to return within a year. On the contrary 24% want to return after retiring.

4. 72% will accept a salary reduction from 10% to 30 +%.

5. The main attraction is teleworking but also large multinational companies, the establishment of their own company and secondarily the large Greek companies and the public sector.

6. The lack of information of those in the country, in the business community, in their industry is obvious. Because the decision for repatriation is difficult and time consuming, it requires basic guarantees.

The second concerns companies operating in Greece with the aim of identifying their predisposition to hire Greeks working abroad.

The conclusions

The conclusions of the second survey are as follows:

1. An overwhelming percentage of companies (83%) predict recruitment in the next 12 months.

2. The interest for hiring Greeks abroad has increased by 33% in the last 2 years.

3. 73% of companies are interested in hiring Greek employees abroad from a lot to a fairly large degree.

4. 51% of companies are willing to offer special and multiple incentives to attract Greeks working abroad.

5. On the contrary, 49% are not willing to offer special incentives in relation to other employees.