Unemployment in Greece has been rising steadily and, unfortunately, no one can safely predict where it will stop. According to statistical data, the number of men, women and young people seeking work across the country has reached the extraordinary figure of 684,000.

Particularly striking is the fact that unemployment rates are higher among people with postgraduate or doctoral degrees than among those with only basic education. At the same time, highly educated unemployed people are expected to remain without work for longer before finding employment. The average time required to find work is estimated at three and a half years.

This phenomenon is mainly due to two reasons. The first is the inability of the Greek education system to adapt to the needs of the labor market. The supply of graduates does not correspond to market demand, and unemployment increases accordingly. A basic function of the Greek education system has been to push pupils and students toward occupations intended to staff the public sector, such as teaching, banking, public administration and similar roles, while the public sector itself is shrinking and hiring fewer people than those who retire.

The second reason is the persistent tendency of Greek families to choose studies according to the social status they are expected to confer, rather than according to real employment prospects. Many choose law or medicine because such studies are considered prestigious. Expectations of future income reinforce this choice, even when studying abroad requires very high costs.

It is therefore clear that unemployment in Greece is due to a large extent to institutional factors and social attitudes. Combating it requires immediate changes in political and social assumptions, combined with other measures, including the attraction of investment that can contribute to the recovery of the Greek labor market.