The economic crisis gripping Greece has led to a brain drain of young professionals and students who are abandoning their debt-stricken homeland to seek a better life abroad.
As hopes of recovery fade and pessimism grows, the country is braced for its biggest exodus since the 1950s and 1960s, when thousands of Greeks migrated to the United States, Canada, Australia, Germany and Britain.
A recent survey showed that nearly seven out of 10 Greeks aged between 22 and 35 are considering leaving, while four in 10 are looking for jobs abroad.
Regina Kozentinou, 23, in her final year at Panteion University in Athens, plans to study banking in London before seeking work in Britain.
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“There are few opportunities for me to make use of my qualifications here,” she said. “I think I’ll leave Greece, though I hope to return when things improve, but this could be more than a decade.”
Kevin Featherstone, director of the London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE) Hellenic Observatory, said an increasing number of Greeks plan to stay on in Britain and other European countries.
“We’ve a growing number of newly qualified Greek students who don’t really have a chance of getting a good job in Greece,” he said.
Sotiris Zartaloudis, 29, who is studying for his doctorate at the LSE, wants to stay on in Britain as he feels that prospects in London are far better than at home in Thessaloniki.
“My goal is to get a job in academia or in the private sector in the UK, or even in Brussels or elsewhere in Europe,” he said.
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With unemployment above 16%, according to official figures, and youth unemployment at 42%, there are fears of growing social unrest with no signs of better times ahead.
Eftihia Yiakoumi, a 32-year-old actress, is preparing to move to Denmark. “Things here are very difficult and very depressing. I couldn’t have imagined when I was 17 that my family would have to help me out now,” she said.
“I want to go abroad because I think I will be respected as a citizen. Here we pay taxes but get little back from the state and there’s still widespread corruption. Things here seem hopeless. I won’t forgive myself if I don’t at least try for a better future. I can do better than here.”
Even established professionals such as George Hatzidakis, a 43-year-old Greek-Australian communications consultant, and his wife Nicole Triantafyllou, 39, are planning to move abroad with their two young children.
“The economic and political situation in Greece has made it almost untenable to stay,” said Hatzidakis. “Nobody wants to leave Greece, it’s a beautiful and wonderful country, but we feel that our hands are being forced. We have jobs now, but in all honesty we don’t know whether that will be the case in six months.”
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Marcia Hadjihambi, 38, is an architect who has just moved to Cyprus to start her own practice. “There’s not enough quality work [in Greece] and the bureaucracy drives you crazy. “I know a lot of architects and everybody is struggling. We all know someone who has lost their job and people feel insecure,” she said.