Vacancies

UPDATE: This post has been in my draft folder for a while now. The article was published in the Athens News at the end of April.

There are around 40,000 job vacancies here in Greece, mainly in agriculture and based in Central and Western Macedonia. Farmers and fisheries are desperate to find people willing to pick and pack crops in these areas where local Greeks do not seem to be taking up these “3D” jobs (dirty, difficult and dangerous) despite 35% unemployment in some areas. So obviously they are turning to migrant workers to take up the slack. The prefecture of Imathia is requesting 7000 workers from overseas despite 14% unemployment. The local prefect Constantine Karapanayotis said

We were surprised by the fact that so many vacancies could not be filled, considering the high rate of unemployment here. I come from a farming family and I am deeply concerned that despite such high unemployment our farmers must rely on immigrants

Many people however, are not surprised. The work is poorly paid (5 euros an hour), the hours are long and the labour is intense. Taking one of these vacancies often means moving to remote rural areas with poor living conditions.

There is a problem this year with hiring foreign workers. Bureaucracy has meant that many of the workers requested by employers are not coming to Greece. As Karapanayotis also stated

The main problem is that we want the embassies and consulates to expedite the processing of applications so that the workers can come here faster. Farmers who depend on immigrant labour cannot wait until whenever for the workers. They need them at a specific time in the season. Right now there is a big delay with workers coming from Albania

There is also a problem with the security deposit (equivalent to three months’ worth of wages for an unskilled worker) that employers must pay for each foreign worker they employ. The deposit is supposedly refunded when that worker’s permit expires and that their departure from Greek borders has been recorded. This system has yet to be computerised so many farmers resent paying huge amounts of money that they may not see again just because the system is not in place to monitor the situation.

The crops need to be picked and packed. The farmers are begging for workers. But the system is not ready to do this properly, so what do you think will happen?

People will arrive illegally, they will be employed illegally, they will work under illegal conditions and when the season is over, immigrants will be blamed for everything. People uproot themselves from their homes and families to find work and Greece, where there is such an obvious need for workers, is a good prospect even though the work is hard and underpaid.

I completely understand why people on both sides of the market, employer and employee, take matters into their own hands and try and fill vacancies or take any jobs they can find. The sad and sorry side-affect is that there will be a backlash. Not against those in power. Or those responsible for the bureaucratic mess. Or the employers who need the workers to earn their own living (and contribute to the countries economy at about 10% of the GDP) and will do so illegally if they have to.

No. The backlash will be against the influx of foreigners. Especially against those who have no status here and therefore hardly any defence. The ill-feeling will be against the migrant workers and those who do the 3D jobs.

As always….

Read the full article here

Technorati: immigration, migrants, work, Greece, labour