Study: Greek Young Job-seekers in Shipping Need More Experience

The number of Greeks seeking jobs in shipping and marine tourism is on the rise but finding the right job remains difficult while candidates lack experience, according to findings of a study released last month at the Posidonia Sea Tourism Forum 2019.

According to a poll carried out by FocusBari on behalf of the YES Sea Tourism Forum based on the answers of shipping and marine tourism company executives as well as job candidates, more than half said (54 percent) that Greek job seekers in shipping are not competitive enough.

The majority of company executives polled said that 92 percent believe young candidates do not have the suitable training with 80 percent saying they lack experience, which they believe is the top qualification for a job in the sector.

Of the young students or graduates surveyed, 54 percent said they were out of work, 30 percent were employed in a sector other than shipping, and 16 percent are already working in shipping. Of those polled, 45 percent said they wish to work in shipping and 7 percent said they were participating in the YES forum in efforts to find a job in marine tourism.

According to the majority (77 percent) of company executives and young job-seekers, sea tourism is all about cruise travel. Indicatively, Greece is expecting 3,664 cruise ship approaches and over 5 million passenger arrivals this year, with the port of Piraeus set to handle 643 approaches and 1.1 million arrivals, compared to 524 approaches and 961,000 arrivals last year. Santorini follows with an estimated 800,000 arrivals, Corfu (735,000 arrivals), Mykonos (700,000 arrivals) and Katakolo (421,000 arrivals).

Forum participants believe increased cruise travel activity this year will create new job openings at ports, cruise companies, travel agencies, and shops.

Meanwhile, during the YES to Sea Tourism Forum networking corners, shipping industry executives had the chance to cover issues such as operations, crew, chartering & HSQE departments, startups, innovation & technology, service providers and shipping education.

The YES to Sea Tourism Forum was organized in parallel to the Ρosidonia Sea Tourism Forum 2019 and offers an open space of exchange between Greek shipping and sea tourism industry professionals and university students and graduates.

The Greek Travel Pages (GTP) was media supporter of the YES to Sea Tourism Forum.