Tourism and food service champions in new jobs

Tourism and food service are the sectors that created – the majority – of the additional 99,956 jobs recorded through the ERGANI employment information system in May.

Employment in May approached 2019’s record levels, while 60% of additional positions were filled by workers over the age of 30. A fact that shows that young people do not prefer seasonal jobs in tourism, which has resulted in difficulties meeting the needs of the sector.

Those over 45 favored

Almost 3 out of 10 new positions were filled by people over 45, while another 30% concerned those aged between 30 and 44.

Specifically, most new positions filled (32,012) concern workers aged 45-64 years, followed by the 30-44 year-old category with 30,170 new positions, followed younger age groups, 15-24 years and 25-29 years, with 22,592 and 13,956 new positions respectively.

According to the data of the Ergani system, hirings in May were significantly higher compared to a year ago and specifically amounted to 326,359, compared to 255,987 in May 2021 (+70,372 positions). There was also an increase in layoffs, as the protection programs implemented by the government to remove the consequences of the pandemic are coming to an end.

Thus, while last year there were 58,391layoffs, this year they increased by 60,490, reaching 118,881. But also with regard to the 5 months January – May, the hiring-dismissal balance is positive, as a result of which a total of 248,079 new jobs have been created, 70,971 more than last year (177,108 new positions in 5 months).

Two decade highs

This May’s performance is the third best in the last 20 years. Only 2018 with 108,725 jobs and 2019 with 105,284 new jobs recorded better performances. Also, this year’s May is the fourth consecutive month with a positive hiring-dismissal balance.

This is because professions with the most employment are related to tourism. Waiters, buspersons and bartenders are specialties with the highest demand and consequently make up for most of recorded hirings (24,076), followed by hotel and restaurant cooks (16,215), waiters/waitresses (10,279), sales clerks and store cashiers (8,788), and reception and customer information staff, receptionists and bellhops (7,552).