Labor Minister: From the distribution of poverty to growth and new jobs

“The Greek government has moved from the logic of poverty distribution, to the logic of increasing national income, growth and job creation and this is a profit for everyone. We already have a very significant reduction in unemployment compared to what we received from the previous government, despite the effects of the coronavirus on the market”, underlined the Minister of Labor and Social Affairs, Kostis Hatzidakis, during his speech at a  “Future of Europe” conference, organized by the “Glafkos Clerides Institute” in Nicosia on Saturday.

Addressing the panel on social issues, Mr. Hatzidakis stressed that “following good European practices, Greece has to show tangible results in tackling unemployment and supporting workers’ incomes. We reduced corporate taxation from 29% to 22% in order to become attractive for investments, following as much as possible, the fiscal example of Cyprus. We have reduced insurance contributions for employers and employees. We have drastically simplified business licensing. We have enacted the Labor Protection Act, which balances the goal of business competitiveness with the goal of protecting workers. And we have adopted measures to protect workers and the unemployed, which already exceed 9 billion euros. This is the largest support program adopted in recent years. All these interventions took place as not only did unemployment not increase – as many predicted – but on the contrary, Greece achieved in 2021 the largest rate of unemployment reduction in the EU. From 17.2% in 2019 to 12.8% now! ».

“As we emerge from the pandemic, we are focusing on creating more and more new and quality jobs,” the Minister of Labor and Social Affairs continued, describing the planning for the next day and the promoted measures, which, as he explained, fall into three pillars:

First, providing incentives for private sector recruitment. In 2022 alone, approximately 86,000 new jobs are expected to be created through state employment agency OAED’s special programs.

Second, providing opportunities for skills upgrading and retraining of the country’s workforce. Over 1 billion euros will be spent in the coming years through the Recovery Fund for the training of 500,000 of our fellow citizens in digital and green skills. At the same time, we are promoting a major institutional reform of vocational education and training, in order to ensure that the quality of the programs provided and the money is well spent.

Third, enhanced support from employment services to jobseekers. We are moving rapidly in modernizing OAED. By upgrading its human resources but also its digital and building infrastructure “.

“In addition,” continued Mr. Hatzidakis, “the government has spread a net of protection for our most vulnerable fellow citizens. The budget for welfare and social benefits granted is increased on an annual basis. Through the NSRF, it is planned to spend in the next programming period funds of the order of 2 billion euros for social inclusion projects. While the Recovery Fund promotes modern social protection tools, such as the Disability Card, the personal assistant for the disabled, the creation of 50,000 places in nurseries, the promotion of the deinstitutionalization of vulnerable adolescents and the creation of an integrated early intervention and developmental framework for children with disabilities ».

“The European Social Model is our compass, showing that development and social justice are complementary and not conflicting goals”, noted Mr. Hatzidakis, placing the policies of the Greek government in the framework of the EU. He added that the goal for a just society, inclusive, is even more urgent in the light of the great challenges facing the European social model, such as the pressures of the competitiveness of the economy, from the East, due to globalization, the digital transformation, the adaptation to a climate neutral economy, population aging and of course the coronavirus pandemic, which has been added in the last two years to the structural challenges mentioned above.

Closing his position, the Minister of Labor and Social Affairs stressed that: “Social Europe is not an abstract idea, but a goal that requires specific policies and actions. The Greek government has moved from the logic of distributing poverty to the logic of increasing national income and this is the profit for everyone: For businesses, for employees, for the weak “.

Finally, it is noted that on the sidelines of the conference, which was attended by, among others, Foreign Minister Nikos Dendias and European Commission Vice President Margaritis Schoinas, Mr. Hatzidakis had a meeting with the Minister of Labor of the Republic of Cyprus Zeta Aimilianidou, with whom they discussed issues of interest.