Roughly a third, or 33-35 percent, of Greece's workforce is currently employed in positions that require fewer formal qualifications than those they have and this trend is increasing during the years of economic crisis, according to experts from the European Centre for Development of Vocational Training (CEDEFOP) speaking at a seminar in Thessaloniki on Thursday. On the other end of the scale, approximately 16-18 percent of Greek employees hold jobs for which they are under-qualified based on Eurostat figures for 2007-2011.
At the same time, they noted, the workforce as a whole ranked low in eight basic lifelong learning competencies that are deemed essential for professional advancement by job markets and the European Union. These include communicating in one's native language, communicating in foreign languages, mathematical competence and basic competences in science and technology, digital competence, learning to learn, social and civil competences, sense of initiative and entrepreneurship and cultural awareness and expression. (AMNA)