Facing Severe Labor Shortage, Greece Moves To Import Workers From Egypt

Facing a severe labor shortage in many sectors of its economy, Greece moves to import seasonal workers from Egypt, the country's Migration Ministry said on Friday.

Recalling an agreement between the countries in November 2022 which would allow import of 5,000 seasonal farm workers from Egypt, the ministry in a statement revealed that the first group of 2,400 workers are expected to arrive to work in Greek fields this summer.

The statement noted that Greek Migration Minister Dimitris Kairidis also discussed with Egyptian Labor Minister Hassan Shehata during his visit to Cairo the possibility of extending the agreement to construction and tourism sectors, in accordance with the needs of the ever-growing Greek economy and with "absolute security for Greek society."

Greece, owing to its aging population and massive emigration to the Western countries during the decade of economic crisis (2009-2019), suffers from a labor shortage, which hit hard the tourism and agriculture sectors, two main pillars of the country's economy.

As such, the country increasingly relies on migrant labor.

In February 2022, Bangladesh and Greece signed an agreement to hire 4,000 Bangladeshi workers in Greece annually in a regular manner.

In December 2023, The Greek parliament approved a new law that will grant some 30,000 undocumented migrants the right to a three-year residency permit and work in Greece. -