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38% of the Greeks are ready to leave the city and to go abroad or to another city if they lost their job or have a problem finding it, reveals Eurobarometer. 48% of Europeans are also ready to pack and go elsewhere if necessary.

The new Eurobarometer report, which was released today, analyzes geographical and labor market mobility among Europeans. According to the survey the highest percentage of people ready to move to another area or country to deal with the potential problem of unemployment was observed among Cypriots, Swedes and Frenchmen (66%) and the lowest among the Portuguese (31%) and Bulgarians (33%).

An interesting fact is that compared to a survey done in September 2005 the percentage of Greeks who say they are ready to move to another city or country has fallen from 67% to 38% for five years. This is the biggest difference in trends among citizens of European countries. The overall percentage of Europeans who would like to move to live and work in another European country other than their own has decreased - from 66% to 48%.

The report of the European Commission has updated the information on changing trends among Europeans to live and work in another European country. Total 2.3% of them live and work in other European countries, not their home. “The right to live and work in another European country is one of the EU’s fundamental freedoms, but too few people currently take advantage of this right.” said László Andor, EU Commissioner for Employment, Social Affairs and Inclusion. “Worker mobility can help reduce unemployment by matching people with jobs available. Europeans recognise this fact, but still face barriers to moving around Europe for work. That’s why we want to make it easier for them to move around and have made this is a priority in our Europe 2020 Strategy” added Mr. Andor

Most Europeans think worker mobility is good for the economy, labor market and for each one individually, but not for the whole family. 10% of Europeans say they have lived and worked abroad, while 13 percent have been abroad for education or training. 34% of them find it easier to find work abroad than at home. Factors that influence decisions to work abroad include housing, language, spouse’s employment, return mechanism.