Athens (AFP) – When Konstantinos Tsanis got his doctorate in finance in 2011 at the height of Greece’s debt crisis, his chances of a well-paid job at home were pretty thin. So like hundreds of thousands of young Greeks, he moved abroad. Some 600,000 — mostly well-educated — left the country between 2010 and 2021, according to the country’s finance ministry, which now wants to tempt them back with tax breaks.
But even as Greece actively tries to reverse the trend, data shows young people are still leaving, albeit at a reduced rate. Greece is no stranger to brain drains and economic migration. In the late 19th and early 20th centuries, many of its brightest and best left in search of a better future in the United States, Canada, and Australia, putting down the roots of a prosperous Greek diaspora.
But the latest exodus is enormous for a country of 11 million that had a quarter of its national output wiped out by sweeping austerity between 2009 and 2018, with wages and pensions also slashed. At the time, up to half of Greece’s population under 25 were unemployed. Tsanis does not regret his decision to leave from a career standpoint. “There was a lot of instability,” he told AFP. But he never felt at home during the 13 years he spent in the United Kingdom, US, and Nigeria. Wherever he moved, “I felt that I didn’t really belong”, he said. “I wanted to settle down and start my own family back in Greece,” the 39-year-old added.
Two months ago, Tsanis returned to Athens to set up a startup, a move that would have been unthinkable 10 years ago. Bringing expatriates back remains a key goal of the conservative government of Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis, who comfortably won re-election to a second four-year term last year. “The country is on a progressive path,” Tsanis argued. From a high of 27 percent in 2013, unemployment in April fell below 11 percent — although that is still nearly double the European Union average. Some 350,000 people who emigrated during the crisis have since returned, the finance ministry said in March. But many others, who started families abroad, will not be easy to convince, admitted economist Panos Tsakloglou, the deputy minister for social insurance.
– Tax rebates – The state is offering a 50 percent tax rebate for the first seven years of relocation to Greece to tempt emigrants back. Only around 10,000 people have taken advantage of the offer, Tsakloglou said, as living standards in Greece remain low. The Greek minimum wage is 830 euros ($900), some 900 euros below that of France. Last year, average annual income was half the European average, according to EU data agency Eurostat.
Eirini Kapogianni, an orthodontist who came home in 2019 after seven years in Germany, said returning to a country still scarred by crisis was “not easy.” “I had to start again from scratch,” the thirtysomething said. To help others like herself, Kapogianni set up a network called Back to Greece to exchange advice and job offers. Some 10,000 people have so far signed up. “The young generation is well educated and has a lot to offer to the country,” Kapogianni said.
US-based heart surgeon Michael Magarakis is torn between the “massive” career benefits where he is now and starting a family in Greece. “The professional side is holding me back,” he said. “I’d be willing to sacrifice some of the benefits; I’m very close to that. At some point, you have to call it a day and go back to your family and live your life,” he said.
© 2024 AFP
