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Victoria Mindova

The main reasons for the high unemployment among young people in Greece are higher education dragging over time and the national psychology that the child should stay at home with the parents as longer as possible. These two factors proved to be decisive in the lack of initiative in the young people who we often hear complain that they are unable to fulfill themselves. This is the opinion of the experts from the Institute of Youth and the General Directorate New Generation at the Ministry of Employment, who replied GRReporter’s question of why the young people in Greece are unemployed.

The statistics show that one in three at the age to 24 years is not working or looking for a job. One out of four at the age to 35 years is also unemployed. Recently, this trend has intensified, but generally the problem is long standing. According to the Chief Secretary for youth employment Georgios Livanos, another factor that contributes to high unemployment among young people is the willingness of companies to hire experienced staff and the newly graduates do not meet this requirement. "Thus, they should be extra initiative to demonstrate their abilities on the labour market. Overall, there are barriers that act as anti incentives for the successful professional realization of the young people." Similar is the opinion of the President of the Institute of Youth, Michalis Georgakas, who said that the model of the labour market in the country is the cause of the numerous problems with employment. New jobs are not easily created, professional opportunities are limited and the educational policy has not been associated with the demands of the labour market for many years.

"Unemployment among youth is a fact for decades. The economic crisis has just uncovered and worsen the problem, and today it reached its final form," said Goergakas. According to him, problems of low employment in the workforce to thirty years could largely be associated with the under-use of the academic potential of the country. Michalis Georgakas believes that there are many sectors and activities that have been neglected for many years. This has led to an imbalance in the labour market and lack of prospects for young people.

Regardless of the unfavourable conditions in which the young are to develop, Georgakas believes that Greece has significant advantages for the development of new opportunities. Culture, tourism and research are key sectors that could be the levers for economic recovery and professional development. "We need to provoke a creative boom that should activate the abilities of the Greek society." He argues that the old practices and beliefs have no place in the modern society. An opportunity for this creative explosion is created just in times of crisis, said the president of the Institute of Youth and added that the period in which Greece is today is decisive for the change of the course.

"We should not forget that the economic base of a country is not created solely by business, but through culture, education, art, speech and historical heritage. Greece is rich in all these aspects and they should be fully utilised." Michalis Georgakas acknowledged that the state policy could not produce the desired creative boom. It should come from the society to draw youth to turn from apathy to creation.

All of these words and wishes sound very positive, but not real. The times of crisis, which today has not only economic but social implications with extreme events, are not beneficial to the creative spirit of youth which does not seem to be a top priority of the government either. According Georgakas, the easiest step towards overturning the negative reality today is the state to focus on the utilisation of the scientific potential in the country. "For better or worse, Greece has many skillful and gifted young scientists. Incentives related to innovation and entrepreneurship could open new doors for the economic impasse."

While these positive forces unleash, however, an increased number of youth groups are observed in the country that become the catalyst for violence in one way or another. Instead of positive and creative youth, an angry and disoriented mass of young people who direct their efforts to destroy rather than create could be heard and seen in Greece every day.

We asked the President of the Institute of Youth what the reason for this is. "I think in many cases the reasons for the expression of violence and destruction in the young are associated with distorting or straining a given situation." He did not deny that problems exist but could not give an exact answer on how the desire of violence could be turned into a creative action. "Everyone should seek the desire for change inside. The only thing that society is obliged to do is not to isolate people who are prone to violence because this would only make the problems worse."