The protracted global economic crisis has seen record unemployment levels in Cyprus, but more so in Greece, leading more and more Greek nationals to sail East seeking jobs on the island.
Even though unemployment in Cyprus is high, particularly among the youth, in Greece, it reached 18.3 per cent in August. The impact has seen an exodus of Greek nationals, many of whom seek jobs in Cyprus, particularly in education, where the number of Greek candidate teachers on the ministry’s much-maligned ‘waiting list’ has seen a “formidable increase”, more than doubling in 2010 compared to the year before.
Greek teachers applying to work in the Cypriot education system are by and large not fresh to the job market. The criteria for prioritising appointments include work experience and year of graduation, bumping Greek nationals above their Cypriot colleagues and putting huge pressure on the already massive list.
Despite concrete figures in the education sector, the evidence of a Greek exodus to Cyprus is mostly anecdotal, as the relevant state departments do not record the number of Greeks looking for jobs here, only those who get a job and pay social insurance contributions.
A ministry source said these figures do not include those who are employed but aren’t paying social insurance contributions, putting them in the ‘illegally employed’ bracket.
According to Greek Embassy estimates, in the last two years about 1,500 Greek companies have moved their headquarters to Cyprus as a direct outcome of the economic crisis in Greece.
(Source: Cyprus Mail)
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