From New York City, Greece’s Minister of Labor and Social Security, Niki Kerameus, delivered a clear message of reconnection with the Greek diaspora and determination to reverse the country’s long-standing brain drain. She was speaking at the ReBrain Greece event, on Dec. 7, 2025, with participation from more than 30 leading Greek companies and over 1,300 registered Greek professionals from the United States and Canada.

The gathering forms part of the government’s national strategy to encourage the return of highly skilled professionals and to build a modern, competitive, and stable labor environment. As the minister noted, this was the program’s fifth international initiative, following London, Amsterdam, Düsseldorf, and Stuttgart, with more than 5,000 participants to date.

“The Greece of today—the Greece of 2025—has little resemblance to the Greece you left behind years ago,” Kerameus said, emphasizing that the country has entered a new phase of growth, investment, and high-quality employment.

In her remarks, she thanked Greeks who had traveled from across North America to attend. A major part of her message focused on tax and professional incentives for repatriation. Chief among them is a 50% income tax reduction for seven years for those returning after at least five years of tax residency abroad, along with automatic specialty recognition for Greek doctors working in the U.S. and Canada.

“An end to bureaucracy—automatic recognition upon return to Greece,” she stressed, noting that the measure has already expanded to countries such as the UK and Switzerland due to overwhelming interest.

Kerameus also highlighted new Eurostat data showing that 422,000 Greeks have already returned, and that—for the first time in years—migration flows are positive. “We have reversed 64% of the crisis-era brain drain,” she said.

More than 30 major Greek business groups took part in the event, including Aegean Airlines, PPC, EFA Group, Metlen Energy & Metals, Motor Oil, OTE, TITAN, and LAMDA Development, offering positions across key sectors of the economy.

Kerameus also addressed employers directly: “If you think about your future in the next 5, 10, or 20 years, your biggest challenge will be human capital. This pool of talent here today is one of the most promising resources available.”

Describing ReBrain Greece as an employment policy initiative, she underscored that it is data-driven—built on real labor-market indicators, business needs, and global trends.

The New York event also featured a presentation on the Greek labor market, detailed briefings on the ReBrain Greece digital platform, and one-to-one interviews and networking sessions between companies and candidates.