There was a time when a university degree felt like a ticket to the future. Today, it can look more like a place-holder—your number in a queue that never seems to move. Finishing your studies no longer marks the start of a career, but the beginning of a marathon: the search for a first job.
Job ads for entry-level roles—meant for beginners or new entrants—routinely demand two or three years of prior experience. Interviews that start out promising end in silence. And employer “ghosting,” as the practice is now widely called internationally, has become a new, unofficial normal in the labour market.
“Since September I’ve sent more than 50 CVs, and the only response I get is an automated email,” says Anastasis Arvanitis, who completed his Business Administration degree at the Athens University of Economics and Business in June. Since then, he has been fighting his own battle to find a job in his field and enter the labour market.
“It’s definitely an extremely stressful process—we’re talking about constant rejection,” he says. “It affects my confidence and my mental health, but I’m not losing hope. I’m also doing some seminars to strengthen my CV, and I believe I’ll make it soon.”
In theory, the solution should lie in entry-level positions aimed mainly at recent graduates or candidates with minimal experience—jobs meant to be the first step toward building a track record and progressing professionally. In practice, the opposite often happens: these roles come with experience requirements, creating a vicious circle of exclusion.
As a result, young people remain outside the labour market—or are forced into jobs with no connection to what they studied, offering lower pay and limited prospects.
According to ELSTAT (the Hellenic Statistical Authority) labour force survey, youth unemployment among those aged 15–24 fell over 2021–2025, from 29.7% to 13%, but it still shows strong seasonal swings.
Waiters with degrees
In summer months, for example, employment rises due to tourism, creating temporary jobs mainly in hospitality, food service and other services. This work is often low-skilled, in most cases unrelated to graduates’ fields of study, and it does not guarantee stable career prospects.
So even as unemployment falls in the statistics, meaningful integration of young people into the labour market—on terms of stability, progression and real use of skills—remains elusive.
“Thankfully, there’s the option of going abroad, because what I want to do in Greece requires a lot of experience—and no matter how much I looked, I couldn’t find a position for someone who had just graduated,” says Sofia Karagianni, a Chemistry graduate from the University of Crete, who ultimately decided to pursue her dream overseas. But Sofia’s path is not available to everyone, given the high financial costs such a move can involve.
Where entry-level jobs exist—and where they don’t
A recent LinkedIn study found entry-level roles exist across businesses, but the data suggests company size matters.
- Small businesses (200 employees or fewer) have a 57% higher share of employees in entry-level roles compared with senior roles.
- Very large companies (over 10,000 employees) have only 15%.
The concentration of new entrants also varies by sector. The lowest shares of entry-level employees are found in:
- Financial services (33%)
- Technology, IT and media (39%), among others
Higher shares appear in:
- Accommodation and food services (52%)
- Education (52%)
- Healthcare (51%)
In any case, the share of entry-level employees is either stable—or declining.
“They disappeared after telling me I’d been hired”
“The worst thing that’s happened to me is them ‘disappearing’ after they’d already told me I was being hired,” says Katerina Asser, a graduate of the University of West Attica, who has been sending CVs nonstop for about six months.
“Unfortunately, I had already told the employers I was working for that I was leaving—so I nearly ended up without income,” she says. “I’ve definitely gone past 100 applications,” she adds, exasperated.
In the professional world, cutting off communication with no explanation—“ghosting”—has become part of everyday life for jobseekers.
“Most of the time I don’t get any reply. But when I’m very interested in a role, I try to follow up—yet they always tell me the position was filled by someone else who met the required criteria,” Katerina says, describing a situation that, she notes, wears her down more psychologically than professionally.
A broader test for Greece’s labour market
The issue reflects how the labour market functions overall—and the country’s ability to make use of its human capital.
New graduates are looking for decent pay, modern working conditions and flexibility, such as remote work, choosing employers who invest in their professional development.
“Companies need to give young people opportunities and trust them, without necessarily demanding prior experience,” says Konstantinos Agrapidas, Director General for Labour Relations, Health, Safety and Inclusion at Greece’s Ministry of Labour. “Their integration into the labour market is an investment—because along the way, talent emerges that businesses need.”
“Rebrain Greece”
As Agrapidas stresses, “retaining talent—and attracting highly skilled Greeks of the Diaspora—is critical for the competitiveness of the Greek economy.”
In that context, the Ministry of Labour’s “Rebrain Greece” initiative seeks to bridge the gap by organising events in cities such as New York, London and Amsterdam, aiming to reconnect Greeks abroad with the domestic labour market.
Meanwhile, for young people sending out dozens of CVs with no response, the marathon of the first job continues—without a happy ending in sight.
