A study by the Institute of Labour of the Greek General Confederation of Labour and Confederation of Public Servants has noted an increase in the participation of permanent employees in the private sector of the economy. However, a large proportion of new entrants to the broader public sector are in temporary employment relationships. Overall, a tendency to narrow the gap between both sectors in terms of employment contracts has been observed.
The Institute of Labour of the Greek General Confederation of Labour (INE/GSEE) and Confederation of Public Servants (ADEDY) has published a study recording employment trends based on a division into permanent and temporary employment in the broader public and private sector of the economy during the period between 1999 and 2006. The data are taken from the second quarter of the annual Labour Force Survey of the National Statistical Service of Greece (Εθνική Στατιστική Υπηρεσία της Ελλάδος, ESYE).
It should be noted that employment in the broader public sector is defined as employment in the following areas: public services, state-law entities, public organisations, municipalities and communities or municipal enterprises, public utilities, state banks and state-controlled enterprises.
Results of the study
In the 1999–2006 period, employment in the broader public sector fluctuated at about 35.2% of all paid employment in the economy as a whole. The respective share in the private sector was around 64.8%. Thus, about one out of three paid employees worked in the broader public sector, and two out of three employees worked in the private sector.
Decline in temporary employment
The proportion of temporary employment in the economy as a whole declined, and correspondingly the share of permanent employment increased. In 1999, temporary employment represented 13.5% of total employment, whereas in 2006 it represented only 10.9% – a decrease of around 2.6 percentage points.
The proportion of temporary employees in the private sector is higher than the average for the whole economy. In the period under examination, an average of 12.2% of all employees were on temporary employment contracts. More specifically, 14.6% of employees held a temporary contract in the private sector, while a lower proportion of 7.75% worked under a temporary employment contract in the broader public sector.
Nonetheless, the most notable characteristic of the period in question is that the gap between the broader public sector and the private sector as regards employment in a permanent or temporary relationship has narrowed substantially, by around 7.8 percentage points – from a difference of 10.8 percentage points in 1999 to three percentage points in 2006 (Figures 1 and 2). This convergence has mainly been due to a decline in temporary employment and an increase in permanent employment in the private sector of around 5.5 percentage points. In the public sector, the change was smaller, with an increase of around 2.3 percentage points in the use of temporary employment contracts.
Profile of temporary employment
In 2006, the broader public sector absorbed almost one quarter of people entering paid employment, compared with one fifth of job entrants in the years immediately preceding. However, in that year, 40% of new entrants to the private sector were hired on the basis of a temporary employment relationship, whereas the comparable figure in the broader public sector was around 70%.
Temporary employment is mainly concentrated in small enterprises employing fewer than 10 people. Specifically, in enterprises employing up to 10 people the proportion of temporary employment is 14.3%, and the number of temporary employees in such companies represents more than half of all temporary employees, at 56.1%. Conversely, permanent employees in such enterprises represent 41% of all permanent employees.
The decline in the proportion of temporary employees is due to a large extent to the reduced number of people employed in enterprises hiring fewer than 10 people. Meanwhile, the increased proportion of permanent employees is largely due to the increased number of people employed in enterprises hiring more than 10 people. This does not necessarily indicate a shift in the Greek labour market away from micro-enterprises, because the decline in paid employment in such companies has been accompanied by an increase in the number of employers and assisting family members.
Today, around 307,600 people are employed in temporary employment relationships, half of whom are women. Of all female employees, 13.3% are in a temporary employment relationship. The respective figure for men is 9.1%.
Conclusion
Permanent employment in the private sector is gradually increasing, whereas the broader public sector is taking on more temporary staff. Nevertheless, the latter sector still accounts for one third of paid employment in Greece. The direction of these trends in both sectors has led to a convergence in the average proportions of permanent and temporary employees in the private and broader public sectors of the economy. The overall decline in temporary employees is largely due to a decrease in the number of people working in enterprises employing fewer than 10 people. The distribution of female and male employment in temporary forms of employment does not show significant differences over the period in question.
Sources
Kritikidis, G., ‘Paid employment in the public and private sectors’, in Enimerosi, No. 140, Athens, INE/GSEE-ADEDY, June 2007, available (in Greek) at: http://www.inegsee.gr/enimerwsi-main.htm
INE/GSEE-ADEDY, The Greek Economy and Employment 2007, Annual Report, Athens 2007, available (in Greek) at: http://www.inegsee.gr/ekthesi2007/ekthesi2007.htm
Sofia Lampousaki, INE/GSEE-ADEDY
