Greece's solution to staff shortage: 167,925 residence permits for foreigners
The joint ministerial decision, published in the Official Newspaper, allows tourism businesses to recruit workers from third countries to meet their staffing needs and addresses the growing problem of staff shortages.
20,000 workers from Egypt and Bangladesh
According to the labour ministry's announcement, the regional authorities' requests for staffing needs were much higher at 380,000.
According to the labour ministry, 20,000 of the 167,925 vacancies will be covered through bilateral agreements between Egypt and Bangladesh.
Wages for foreigners are as high as in the EU
The labour ministry said that the labour laws that apply to Greek and EU workers in terms of wages, minimum wage, working hours, health and safety and housing for seasonal workers also apply to third-country nationals granted temporary residence permits.
The Federation of Greek Hoteliers and the Greek Chamber of Hotels had also requested a change in the law with a letter sent to the government to address the staff shortage.
Greece is not the only country facing a shortage of tourism staff. Earlier this month, a study presented at ITB Berlin revealed that 68 per cent of travel and tourism businesses worldwide are currently understaffed, with 88 per cent of the industry acknowledging workforce shortages.
