January – July: Greek hiring boom but also high rates of layoffs

The ERGANI information system records an explosion of hirings but also of dismissals for the seven months of January – July. During this period, 296,624 new jobs were created, 26,433 more than those created in the corresponding period of 2022.

However, layoffs also moved to a high level, which reached 989,174 in the seven months and were 162,810 more than the layoffs in the seven months of 2022. Of course, the recruitments were more and for this reason the balance of the employment flows of the seven months is shown to be increased.

On the contrary, in July, layoffs outnumbered hirings, with the result that employment fell by 8,294 jobs in the private sector. In fact, if the comparison is made with the corresponding month last year, when the balance of wage employment flows was positive by 2,999 jobs, then the losses increase to 11,293 jobs.

The sector with the biggest losses was education, with a total of 25,867 jobs, as private school teachers are laid off this month.

The high hiring rates in tourism was not enough to cover the difference in the month of July.

In total, there were 285,505 hirings in July, down by 8,294, compared to the 293,799 recorded departures. It is characteristic that the worst performance since 2001 and after, for which data are available for the month, was recorded only in July 2015, when 16,658 jobs were lost. Within 2023, July is the second month after January in which layoffs are outnumbered.

The biggest job losses were in the 30-44 age group with -17,263 positions and the 45-64 age group with -16,876. On the contrary, the balance in private sector wage employment flows for young workers aged 15-24 was positive, as almost as many jobs were created as were lost by older workers (+30,421 jobs).

These figures, combined with the fact that of the 285,505 new hires in July, only 139,634 were full-time contracts (48.91% rate), lead to the conclusion that the new hires, mainly in tourism and catering, were for cheaper staff, with flexible forms of work and young workers. In detail, 116,528 recruitments were made with part-time contracts (percentage of 40.81%), while another 29,343 recruitments concerned rotational work contracts (percentage of 10.28%). 15,656 jobs were lost for women, while 7,362 new jobs were created for men.