Greece to subsidize 90% of wages for remote hires in isolated areas
- Greece plans to subsidize 90% of wages for remote hires in isolated areas.
- Greece’s subsidy covers salary and social security contributions for one year.
- Labor Minister Niki Kerameos said it targets registered unemployed people.
- A women’s employment program adds 5,000 subsidized positions.
ATHENS, GREECE — Greece is preparing a program that will pay 90% of the salary and social security contributions for one year when businesses hire registered unemployed people in mountainous, remote and hard-to-reach areas to work remotely.
The measure aims to give employers an incentive to recruit in places with few job opportunities, while letting workers stay in their home communities instead of moving to cities.
Jobs without relocation
Labor and Social Security Minister Niki Kerameos announced the plan on Friday, To Vima reported.
“If a business hires someone from one of these very isolated and remote areas for remote work, we will subsidize 90% of the salary and contributions for one year,” Kerameos said.
She described the scheme as a way to strengthen communities facing greater employment and demographic pressures.
The minister did not say how many jobs the remote-work program would fund or when it would start.
The government has increasingly linked employment policy to efforts to address population decline, with recent initiatives aimed at making permanent residence in remote areas more viable through jobs, investment and relocation incentives.
Wider push on labor shortages
Kerameos also announced an expansion of a subsidized employment program for unemployed women, covering up to 70% of wages and social security contributions and adding 5,000 positions.
She said female unemployment has fallen significantly but remains an area for further improvement.
Unemployment among people under 25 has also declined, reaching 15%, according to the minister.
To ease labor shortages, the government is also encouraging Greeks who moved abroad during the economic crisis to return, with a new “ReBrain Greece” event planned in Munich in late November.
The initiative has connected Greek professionals abroad with employers back home.
The scheme turns remote work into a regional development tool, paying employers to hire where talent lives rather than asking talent to move.
For remote-first employers, a one-year 90% subsidy sharply cuts the cost of trialing new hires, and it opens a subsidized onshore talent pool that can complement offshore outsourcing for roles needing European language skills or time zones.
Firms building distributed teams can compare subsidized local hiring with providers on the top BPO companies worldwide list.
Related news
- HireSA launches AI job board for remote South African talent · 26 Sep
- Remote work squeezes out early-career talent: HBR · 19 Aug
- Content Guru expands European footprint with Greece operations hub · 11 Oct 2025
Disclosure: Outsource Accelerator uses AI tools in the backend of its editorial workflow. Every article is reviewed and verified by a human editor before publication.
Stay ahead of the outsourcing industry. Join thousands of business leaders who rely on Outsource Accelerator for the news, trends, and expert insights that matter. Subscribe to our free newsletter and never miss an update.
