Greece Looks Beyond EU for Workers as Locals Shun Tourism Sector
Source: Balkan Insight
Andreas gets up at 6am every morning to open his small cafe in a provincial town near Athens, where he comes from.
Normally at this time of the year he would already have moved to the Greek island of Mykonos for the tourist season but this year, after ten consecutive summer seasons doing catering work on the island, he decided to stay at home.
“I couldn’t physically stand working at that pace seven days a week,” says 49-year-old Andreas (not his real name).
Andreas had earned an average of about 180 euros a day [including tips] on Mykonos. “You knew that if you came back from seasonal work you would have a good amount of money in your hands, but this doesn’t apply to everyone,” he points out.
This season, he was offered a job on the island again, as “there is a shortage of staff, but I refused”, he says.
He is not alone in his decision. In recent years – and especially since the COVID-19 pandemic – many Greek workers have turned their back on the tourism industry.
The original article: belongs to Balkan Insight .
