No relief to struggling Greeks

athens — Markos Markakis is 28 and works up to 13 hours a day. It took him seven attempts to find his current job, and in Greece’s precarious job environment, he counts himself lucky.

“I’m happy to have a job, but outside the office, I have no life,” he said.

Two years after the leftist government of Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras nearly crashed Greece out of the euro, and eight years after the country plunged into economic crisis, employment numbers are finally improving.

Tsipras himself recently said his administration has created 300,000 jobs since taking over in 2015, and expects the economy to grow by nearly 2 per cent this year.

I’m happy to have a job, but outside the office, I have no life Markos Markakis, Greek worker

“Unemployment is falling... the road ahead is long, but we can be more confident,” the prime minister said in a televised interview in July.

Also in July, the country made a positive test debt issue after three years of exile from money markets, and leading rating agencies are cautiously optimistic about its prospects.

But try telling that to people like Yiannis, who works at an Athens brasserie from 7pm to 4am (1600GMT to 0100GMT) every day for €30 ($35) — and one or two days of rest per month.

“If you turn down a job offer, you know there is a risk of not finding another one,” said the 22-year-old, adding that he was actually grateful for the paltry sum he was earning when others were jobless.

Officially, unemployment is falling. In April it was 21.7 per cent, down from a high of 27.8 per cent in 2013.