After scientists and university graduates, corporate executives are ready to leave Greece and are seeking employment abroad.
More than 5,000 CEOs, COOs and CFOs have submitted their CVs to specialized multinational employment agencies operating in Athens, according to a Kathimerini daily report.
Employment offices in Athens have seen the trend starting in December, when the prospect of snap elections created a fear of economic instability among Greeks.
ManpowerGroup president Venetia Kousia said that younger corporate officials tend to seek employment abroad, and especially in countries of the Persian Gulf because of proximity to the homeland. “Executives, who at a younger age are often more willing to roll up their sleeves and deal with the challenges and uncertainties of today with a greater capacity to adjust and lower salary expectations, are changing the landscape at the C-suite,” Kousia said.
The economic crisis of the past five years has caused salaries of top-level executives to shrink, thereby forcing them to go abroad, she added.
Katerina Diamantopoulou, managing director and senior client partner of the Korn Ferry Group in Greece, said that since December her company is receiving dozens of CVs from executives every day.
Diamantopoulou said that even highly paid C-level executives in Greece are searching for opportunities abroad, while during interviews they express worry over the country’s real economy and their career prospects.
According to a recent Endeavor Greece study sponsored by the Stavros Niarchos Foundation and with the cooperation of QED, over 200,000 Greeks – most of whom were below the age of 35 – have left the country since the start of the crisis and are employed abroad. Most of them are scientists and professionals with a high level of education and skills, and 71 percent have sought a career in the European Union. Germany and the United Kingdom are their main countries of choice.
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