At 260,000, the Central Union of Chambers of Greece (KEEE) determines the number of vacant jobs across the country, using the results of a survey conducted on a representative sample of 5,076 companies.
The data shows that 37% of companies admit to having job vacancies, a percentage that rises dramatically, reaching 60% when it comes to companies with more than 25 employees.
In the research carried out by Palmos Analysis, it was found that the island regions of the country consistently present a greater problem, as does Thessaly.
Where are the biggest gaps recorded?
Thus, the sectors with the highest percentages of companies reporting job vacancies are construction, manufacturing, accommodation and catering, with a high percentage also being recorded among export-oriented companies. More specifically, the survey data show that, at the regional level, the biggest problem with job vacancies is found in companies operating in the South Aegean (47%).
The regions of Crete and North Aegean (46%) and Thessaly (43%) follow. On the other hand, there seems to be less of a problem with job vacancies in companies in the region of Western Macedonia (27%), followed by the Peloponnese (28%), Epirus (30%) and Central Macedonia (31%).
In Ática, which also has the largest number of companies nationwide, 39% of them stated that they had vacant jobs, that is, two percentage points above the general average.
The image by sector
Regarding the reference sector, the biggest problems with vacant jobs are faced by companies operating in construction (55%).
Manufacturing comes next (50%), while catering and accommodation have seen very high growth (48%). On the other hand, the least problems in this critical area are faced by companies in the financial and insurance sectors (16%), followed by education (23%) and health and social assistance (32%).
Another problem is that almost half of exporting companies (48%) claim to have job vacancies. In terms of turnover, the biggest problem with job vacancies (56%) is faced by companies with a turnover of between 5 and 10 million euros.
However, companies with a turnover of more than €10 million are also in a disadvantageous position (54%), while it appears that smaller companies with a turnover of €500,000 – €1 million (52%), but also €1 – €5 million (50%) are in a disadvantageous position. On the other hand, the smallest companies, with a turnover of less than €100,000 (25%), are noticeably below the overall average. In terms of size, the biggest problem seems to be those with 51 or more employees to manage.
These companies have an average of nine vacancies. Companies with 26 to 50 employees (six vacancies on average) are also in a similarly unfavourable position. However, given that the overall picture improves the smaller the company, there are two vacancies per company nationwide from those that responded that they are really facing the specific problem.