- Recruitment increases exploded in tourism, hospitality, retail, food service, and entertainment.
- 137,841 new jobs sprang up in May alone, the best result for the month in a quarter-century.
- Unemployment plummeted to 7.9%, the lowest since November 2008.
- Women (9.8%) and young people (19.9%) still struggle in the job race.
- First five months of 2025 created over 324,000 new jobs, reflecting summer’s impact and solid economic growth.
- May’s recruitment outweighed departures by a record margin, driven by tourist season demands.
- “May 2025 delivered the strongest job market momentum in 25 years,” according to government data.
How Tourism and Sandwiches (and a Lot of Room Service) Shook Up the Job Market
Buckle up, because recruitment increases have officially crashed the Greek unemployment party. The country hasn’t seen job stats like these since flip phones roamed the Earth. The tourism and food service sectors unleashed a hiring blitz, wrangling the unemployment rate down to 7.9% in May 2025, the lowest level since the 2008 financial crash. Welcome to a world where bartenders and hotel maids are the heroes of the national economy.
Pull up the payroll numbers and people might faint. May alone saw over 137,000 new jobs pop up, a record for the month and, let’s be honest, proof that Greeks know how to staff a souvlaki stand faster than politicians break promises. The news comes straight from Erganis (the data wizards tracking every contract), who reported the best hiring-to-firing balance… since 2001. Yes, that is supposed to be impressive.
The Sectors That Actually Did the Heavy Lifting
Here’s who really kept things moving:
- Food service and waiting: servers, bartenders, cooks and dishwashers became the backbone of summer.
- Hospitality: maids, front desk clerks, bellboys, housekeepers in hotels flew off the unemployment lists.
- Retail: cashiers, salespeople, shelf-stockers all landed jobs as tourist wallets opened.
- Office support: ranks of clerks padded those stats a bit.
- Entertainment: musicians, actors and holiday entertainers kept the crowds happy and paychecks rolling.
The numbers tell the story. According to ELSTAT, the national stats authority, “The unemployment rate dropped to 7.9% in May, a decrease of 0.4% compared to April and down from 10.5% a year earlier.” If that’s not a sign that people want beach vacations and endless frappes, what is?
But wait, it’s not all sunshine. Employment options for women and youth remain a slow burn. Unemployment for women stuck at an ugly 9.8%, still much higher than the 6.2% for men. Youth joblessness for those 15-24 hit a staggering 19.9%. (“The figures show ongoing challenges for young job seekers,” a government official admitted, making it sound almost optimistic.)
Job Growth Numbers: Not Exactly All Rainbows
Now, for those obsessed with numbers: recruitment announcements in May jumped up to 383,940. Departures reached 246,099 (including both willing quitters and folks whose contracts ran out or were terminated). So yes, there are still bosses out there handing out more pink slips than wedding invitations.
The leftover? The highest positive job flow in 25 years. May’s balance hit new highs, proving once and for all that when the sun comes out and tourists start invading, jobs bloom like wildflowers—until autumn, anyway.
