Invitation to 90,000 third-country workers

Although the relevant ministries are promoting significant changes to the current institutional framework, aiming at a faster and easier transfer process for foreign workers, the permitted positions for the current year were foreseen in the act already published in the Government Gazette, earlier than last time. This is because there is significant pressure from employers to cover their needs, mainly in sectors such as farming, tourism and construction.
Among the foreseen specialties are unskilled land workers, builders, machine operators, factory workers, as well as office employees, while more than half of the positions, namely 45,520 out of a total of 89,290, concern seasonal work.
The previous corresponding decision initially concerned 147,925 jobs for the period 2023-24, while there was also a supplementary decision in 2024 that approved an additional 32,517 transfers of workers from third countries to meet the needs of employers mainly in the agricultural, construction, tourism and food sectors.
For 2025, the act stipulates that the maximum number of positions for dependent employment is 41,670. Seasonal employment concerns 45,670 positions, while there are also 2,000 jobs that were approved regarding highly skilled employment. Of the dependent employment positions, 38.39% (16,000 out of 41,670) concern unskilled workers who will be called upon to fill the gaps in agricultural, livestock, forestry and fishing workers.
The number of jobs for office employees is 5,000. Workers in this category will be employed in domestic companies that have concluded agreements and operate as branches of foreign companies and have undertaken the promotion of products and the provision of technical support.
Some 9,000 positions will be covered by bilateral agreements. The 4,000 vacancies in farming, forestry, fisheries and tourism are planned to be filled by workers coming from Bangladesh, through the agreement signed by the government with Bangladesh, in force since September 2022. The remaining 5,000 vacancies, concerning seasonal employment in the agricultural sector, will be filled through the agreement with Egypt, in force since January 2023.
Kathimerini