ATHENS – Recovering from a crushing 2010-18 economic and austerity crisis, Greece now is reaching out to scores of thousands of people who fled – especially professionals, the young and best and brightest – to come home.
Those dark days saw half of those 25-34 unable to find work as the government imposed brutal measures aimed at workers, pensioners and the poor as conditions attached to three international bailouts of 326 billion euros ($352.92 billion.)

The miserable conditions – which brought suicides and despair – saw Greece lose 600,000 people who wanted work and a better life in other countries, especially the United Kingdom, United States, Canada and Australia.
Lost in the exodus were doctors, professionals, Information Technology (IT) specialists and highly-skilled workers who either couldn’t find jobs or couldn’t take advantage of a system favoring political appointments and favor, not merit.

In a review of what the New Democracy government hopes will be a turnaround, Agence France-Presse (AFP) noted that bringing expatriates back is a priority for the government of Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis.

https://www.barrons.com/amp/news/greece-tries-to-tempt-its-emigrants-back-home-34fe16bb

They include people like Konstantinos Tsanis, who got his doctorate in finance in 2011 at the height of Greece’s debt crisis but found getting a job even with those qualifications so he moved abroad.

Part of the lure in getting people to return is tax breaks in Greece’s chaotic system that sees changes offering breaks to some and higher taxes to others in the same bracket but with different regulations.

He said he doesn’t regret his decision career-wise to leave his homeland because, “There was a lot of instability.” But he said he never felt at home as he moved around in the United Kingdom, United States and Nigeria.

Wherever he moved, “I felt that I didn’t really belong. I wanted to settle down and start my own family back in Greece,” the 39-year-old added. So in May he came back to Greece to set up a startup because, “The country is on a progressive path.”

THE SWINGING DOOR

It’s not a one-way street back though because Greece is still losing people, especially the young, and despite the economic comeback many are struggling to deal with high prices and inequitable taxes favoring the rich.

Still, the Finance Ministry said 350,000 of those who had left have returned, unknown whether out of nostalgia alone or because they’ve found work or opportunities that didn’t exist before.

They’ve been attracted by a 50 percent tax rebate for the first seven years while other Greeks in the same bracket will pay twice as much, one of the factors in the country’s widespread tax evasion.

Economist Panos Tsakloglou told AFP that only about 10,000 of those returning have used the tax break and that there’s still a deterrent for the less skilled as the minimum wage is only 830 euros ($899) monthly, half that of France.

In 2023, the average annual income in Greece – 38,739 euros ($41,940), which includes private sector jobs – but 15,858 euros ($17,168) more typically, was half the European average, said the European Union’s statistics agency Eurostat.

Eirini Kapogianni, an orthodontist who came home in 2019 after seven years in Germany, said returning to a country still scarred by crisis was “not easy,” and a difficult decision after living elsewhere for so long.

“I had to start again from scratch,” she said. To help others like herself, Kapogianni set up a network called Back to Greece to exchange advice and job offers. Some 10,000 people joined. “The young generation is well educated and has a lot to offer to the country,” Kapogianni said.

US-based heart surgeon Michael Magarakis he was between the massive career benefits and salary compared to what would be miniscule in Greece but he came back to start a family in his homeland.

“The professional side is holding me back. “I’d be willing to sacrifice some of the benefits, I’m very close to that. At some point you have to call it a day and go back to your family and live your life,” he said.