Endeavor Greece, a local charter of the global organization that supports impactful entrepreneurs, announced it is starting WorkInTech.gr, a new platform aimed at connecting international tech experts who would like to work in Greece with local fast-growing companies. The launch of this centralized registry comes at an opportune time for the hiring efforts of the country’s emerging startups, while aiding savvy tech specialists who are increasingly putting location and lifestyle first and looking to contribute to the country’s digital transformation. The platform will be available to any interested candidate, Greek and non-Greek. Applicants will have to submit a form with their preferences to enter the database, after which they can be contacted directly by Greek tech companies.
Reversing the brain drain tendency
According to the Global Competitiveness report by the World Economic Forum, Greece ranked 59th in 2019, taking into consideration its institutional flexibility, policies, and factors that determine the level of productivity of its workforce. The 2020 report suggests that the country is not performing well when it comes to supporting the establishment of “markets of tomorrow”, especially in areas that require public-private collaboration (Greece received 36 out of 100 points), as well as in terms of stimulating R&D investments (the country got 25 out of 100 points). The brain drain problem that Balkan countries are facing is that a large portion of the scientists, engineers, and tech specialists choose to emigrate to better developed markets.
The centralized registry, initiated by Endeavor, is looking to solve this problem by facilitating the return of tech professionals in Greece. On the other side, startups in the country who are facing an increasing demand for specialists will be able to connect easily to cadres who are interested in coming to Greece.
Further steps towards ecosystem progress
The new initiative is one of the many activities that both private and public actors have taken to develop the Greek ecosystem. At the end of 2020, the Greek government introduced a 50% income tax cut to “digital migrants”, as of the beginning of 2021. This accompanied the Greek governmental policy of implementing flat taxes for investors whose tax residency is in Greece. In January 2021, the government announced plans for the development of the first innovation hub in the country. State officials have also been keen on working with the private sector – in 2020, the government came with the news for a strategic partnership with Microsoft to provide digital training for 100, 000 citizens by 2025.
Apart from that, Greece has seen some of the biggest investments in its ecosystem. For one, the acquisition of Softomotiv, Microsoft announced a $1.17B investment in Greek-based data centers, while Amazon Web Services opened a local division in the country in January 2021. Recently, the regional startup ecosystem also saw one of the largest deals in the region – InstaShop’s $360M exit. Other successful deals include the acquisition of the deep-tech startup Think Silicon by Applied Materials, as well as the $14.2M financing round of Netdata led by the Silicon-Valley-based Bessemer Venture Partners.
