The Greek Ministry of Labor and Social Affairs has announced the launch of a new digital platform entitled REBRAIN GREECE – TALENT CENTER that will showcase high-level job openings in various sectors in an effort to repatriate highly skilled Greeks who left the country for work in the past decade.
Greece has been “plagued” with brain drain – the flight of high-level professionals abroad for the past 15 years because of the devastating effects of the 2008 financial crisis. Between 2008 and 2017, almost 500,000 skilled Greeks left their homeland due to the lack of job opportunities. This number represents 4.6 percent of the country’s productive population, with 51.4 percent being between the ages of 25 and 44, and 70 percent holding a university degree.
Director General of Labor Relations, Health, Safety and Inclusion at Work Konstantinos Agrapidas stressed that the objective of the initiative is two-fold, aiming both to attract Greek expats back to the country and to dissuade Greeks from going abroad in the first place.
Agrapidas continues, “This action is aligned with the greater European strategy, as the European Commission has already announced the creation of the European Talent Booster Mechanism to harness and retain talent within European regions through the funding of relevant initiatives.
To attract Greeks living abroad, tax incentives have been introduced to transfer their tax residence, offering a 50% income tax exemption in the country for the first seven years after their return. The project is still at an early stage, with the necessary upgrades to the digital platform underway, so as to offer more technologically advanced services to attract new talent.”
The ministry has launched the beta version of the platform available to the public, and companies have already uploaded the first job listings. Indicative posts include senior-level positions in banks, consulting firms, and corporate groups engaged in information technology, manufacturing, and construction as well as more specialized roles emerging within the context of the green economy.
