By S. Emmanouil
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Despite eight years of a crushing economic crisis in Greece the country's higher education system continues to churn out degrees with very low marketability, many employers are indifferent to investing in their workforce's training and remuneration while the overall business world is still plagued by introversion, the main findings of a landmark study showed this week.
The depressing result, according to a joint study by EY, the Athens University of Economics and Endeavor Greece, preserves a "vicious cycle" in the country that inhibits growth and often neutralizes Greece's comparative advantages.
For instance, the study shows that 53 percent of graduates of Greek universities hold degrees in fields that are judged - based on the methodology employed - as not directly contributing to economic growth; only 30 percent of wage-earners have participated in vocational training paid by their employer, as opposed to the EU average of 73 percent, while eight out of 10 new businesses in Greece have no involvement in the international trade of goods or services.
Along those lines, as the study shows, 86 percent of new businesses in the country eschew so-called "productive and outgoing sectors", while 82 percent of surveyed young adults said they do not believe the Greek education system properly informs and prepares them for the job market.
Conversely, despite the very high unemployment rate in Greece, 77 percent of employers surveyed declared that they have difficulty in recruiting qualified staff. By contrast, 88 percent of young adults in the study said businesses do not offer high-quality and well-paid employment.
Additionally, the study found that three out of five Greek university students today are enrolled in humanities, social studies or education degree programs, which despite their invaluable contribution to society, are not in high demand by the employers and the domestic job market.
Computer science, for instance, is studied by only 4 percent of Greek university students, despite the very high demand for graduates of this discipline in the country and Europe.
In terms of entrepreneurship, only the tourism sector exhibits high degrees of extroversion and opportunities for growth. Other prospective "national champions", such as foodstuffs and energy sectors, reported lower turnover between 2012 and 2016.
The most popular choice for young entrepreneurs in Greece over the recent crisis years, according to the study, is the food and beverage sector, i.e. all types of eateries, cafes, bars, clubs etc., a sector with practically zero prospects in terms of exports.
While detailing the woes of the domestic job market, entrepreneurship and the higher education system, the study's authors also submitted 10 proposals for overturning the situation in recession-battered Greece, including: retraining of people that specialize in vocations that suffer from high unemployment; a national strategy to link education with employment; redesigning university study programs; post-graduate programs with an emphasis on new professional specialization; career advice in the secondary education sector; practical training for college students in Greece and abroad; a national Erasmus program for implementation in Greece; luring successful professionals back to Greece; university summer schools for high school students; international education clusters for strategic economic sectors, such as shipping, tourism, agricultural production etc.
