Mass retirements in recent years are creating a significant demographic gap in the workforce, with key sectors of the Greek economy struggling to find workers — and four of these industries actively contributing to further reductions in the country’s unemployment rate.
Labor market gaps: Which sectors are facing the most critical workforce shortages
The highest positive hiring balances were recorded in the accommodation, food service, retail trade, and public administration and defense sectors. Data from the Hellenic Statistical Authority (ELSTAT) clearly illustrates the scale of this shift. In the first quarter of 2026, a total of 52,231 job vacancies were recorded. Roughly one in three was in tourism and hospitality, which accounted for 18,192 open positions. This was followed by wholesale and retail trade, public administration and defense, manufacturing, and the healthcare sector.
The trend over recent years is even more telling. Job vacancies surged from 32,850 in the first quarter of 2023 to 70,826 in the same period of 2024 — a staggering rise of 115.6%. A moderation followed in 2025, with vacancies falling to 52,070, and they remained essentially flat in 2026 at 52,231, edging up by just 0.3%. Despite this stabilization, demand for workers remains significantly higher than in 2023 and far exceeds levels seen in previous years.
Tourism and hospitality lead the way in open positions
Tourism and hospitality consistently top the list of sectors with the greatest staffing needs. Job vacancies in this segment climbed from 7,466 in 2023 to 25,398 in 2024, before easing to 11,028 in 2025 and rising again to 18,192 in 2026.
In wholesale and retail trade, vacancies stood at 6,123 in the first quarter of 2026, down from 8,541 in 2025 and 9,038 in 2024. Despite the decline, they remain at elevated levels.
Increased staffing needs are also being felt in public administration and defense. From 2,099 vacancies in 2023, the figure shot up to 6,624 in 2024 and, despite pulling back in 2025, settled at 5,389 in 2026.
In manufacturing, vacancies reached 6,280 in 2024, up from 3,710 in 2023, before falling back to 3,984 in 2026. Similarly, the construction sector saw a sharp rise through 2024, when vacancies peaked at 4,393, before retreating to 2,611 in 2026.
In healthcare and social care, staffing needs also remain high. Vacancies increased from 2,569 in 2023 to 4,760 in 2024, settling at 3,976 in the first quarter of 2026. A particularly striking shift occurred in education, where vacancies jumped from just 371 in 2023 to 2,331 in 2024 and reached 2,483 in 2026 — the highest figure recorded during the period under review.
The paradox of today’s labor market is that job vacancies are rising at the very same time that unemployment remains below 10%. The picture looks markedly different from 2015, when only 15,367 vacancies were recorded in the first quarter — during a period of extremely high unemployment.
The available workforce is no longer sufficient
Today, 52,231 job vacancies coexist with lower unemployment — but also with a shrinking workforce. The number of available workers is no longer enough to fill all open positions, while a significant portion of the population, primarily women, remains outside the labor market. The retirement of older workers is creating additional gaps that are not being filled at the same rate by younger entrants to the workforce.
This dynamic is transforming the labor shortage from a temporary problem into a structural challenge for the Greek economy. Tourism, trade, manufacturing, construction, and healthcare are on the front lines, with businesses searching for workers in a market where available supply is increasingly constrained.
The unemployment data broken down by gender also raises important concerns. Women continue to face a significantly higher unemployment rate than men. In the first quarter of 2026, the female unemployment rate stood at 12.6%, compared to 6.9% for men.
What’s more, the gap between the two genders widened over the course of a single year — growing from 4.4 percentage points in the first quarter of 2025 to 5.7 percentage points in the first quarter of 2026. This widening gap stems from the fact that male unemployment fell by 0.4 percentage points, while female unemployment rose by 0.9 percentage points.
Youth unemployment also raises serious alarm bells. In the 15–29 age group, the unemployment rate climbed to 19.1%, up from 18.4% a year earlier — an increase of 0.7 percentage points.
The Greek Labor Institute’s analysis
Moving in a similar direction, though with a different emphasis, is the analysis published by the Labour Institute of the Greek General Confederation of Labour (INE GSEE). The institute describes the Greek labor market as one experiencing a real, but uneven and qualitatively inadequate recovery.
According to the analysis, 2025 saw clear improvement compared to the previous decade: employment rose, unemployment fell, and underemployment declined. However, the institute argues that this progress is not sufficient to confirm a transition to a stable and socially sustainable model of employment.
The key takeaway is that the Greek labor market has recovered primarily in quantitative terms, without a corresponding improvement in the quality of the jobs being created.
Originally published in Money Pro by Parapolitika
