At a time when incomes are under high pressure due to punctuality, this increase is an important measure to maintain social cohesion, while it will also have a positive impact on the market, strengthening the purchasing power of low-income households. It is noted that this will be the fourth increase in a row since January 2022.
From 2019 to date, the minimum wage has increased by a total of 20% and Greece has improved its position among the 22 European countries with minimum wage legislation. At the same time, the average salary has also increased in the same period by approximately 20%, while unemployment is steadily decreasing, reaching a single-digit rate for the first time following many years, in November 2023.
This improvement is largely based on the efforts of the business world, which – despite the successive crises of recent years – has not stopped supporting the steady growth of both employment and incomes. Clearly, much effort is still needed to further improve wages and speed up convergence with Europe. The strengthening of workers’ incomes is and must remain a priority objective for the State, but also for all social partners. The government, for its part, has set a goal of increasing wages by 25% by 2027, so that the minimum wage reaches 950 euros and the average wage reaches 1,500 euros.
The key to achieving this goal is upgrading the growth dynamics and productivity of the Greek economy. The safest and most sustainable way to better wages is to move to a new economic model, with a stronger participation of industries that offer high productivity jobs. It is a goal that requires consistent and determined promotion of structural reforms, targeted utilization of European and national resources to mobilize productive investments, with an emphasis on innovation, new technologies, green and digital transition.
It requires systematic investment in the development of the country’s human resources and in the cultivation of modern skills, which respond to the current and future needs of the economy. It requires the continuation of interventions, with the aim of supporting entrepreneurship and official work, through tax, insurance and regulatory interventions, improving the operation of the Public Administration, creating appropriate infrastructure and services. It is particularly important for the state to take more steps in the direction of reducing non-wage labor costs, which will contribute to the improvement of incomes, but also to the attraction and repatriation of highly skilled workers to Greece.
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