In agriculture, 83,200 jobs were cut, and their employees became… waiters!

Greece lost 83.2 thousand jobs in agriculture and livestock production per year. Employment is growing, but the country is increasingly moving away from manufacturing to the service sector.

Latest data ΚΕΠΕ for the third quarter of 2025 show an alarming shift in the Greek labor market: employment is formally growing, but jobs are disappearing precisely where the country’s real production base is being created.

Total employment in Greece reached approximately 4.4 million peoplehaving increased over the year by approximately 79,000 employees. On paper this looks like a positive trend. Well, yes, the number has grown – you can open the presentation, check the box and pretend that the economy is confidently moving towards a bright future.

But behind the beautiful general statistics lies a much more unpleasant picture. Agriculture and Livestock over the same period we lost about 83,200 jobs. This means a reduction of almost 18% workforce in the sector in just one year.

There are jobs, but not there

The main paradox is that the labor market seems to be growing, but the structure of employment is changing towards services, primarily in the field of catering and tourism services.

In other words, the country is losing people in the fields, on farms and in production, but gaining more workers in cafes, restaurants and seasonal services. The economy is becoming increasingly dependent on who comes, where they eat and how much they tip.

This model can look good in the summer, when the islands are crowded with tourists. But it does a poor job of answering the question of who will produce food, hold the village, maintain rural infrastructure, and maintain life outside of major cities and tourist areas.

The village has been emptying for several years now

Estimated ΚΕΠΕSince 2008, Greece has lost about a quarter of employment in the agricultural sector. This is no longer a temporary fluctuation or a “difficult season.” This is a long process of weakening the Greek province.

The reasons have long been known:

• aging rural population;
• high production costs;
• low profitability of many farms;
• problems with access to labor;
• rising prices for energy and raw materials;
• weak attractiveness of the profession for young people.

At the same time, the economy is complaining about a shortage of workers, especially in unskilled positions. A strange picture emerges: people are leaving the sector that feeds the country, and the market is looking for workers where most often we are talking about low-paid and seasonal employment.

Editorial comment

A story of loss 83,200 jobs in agriculture and livestock production is not just labor market statistics. This is the story of how a country is gradually losing its manufacturing footing.

Greece is increasingly becoming a service economy, with much of its employment dependent on tourism, cafes, restaurants and seasonal demand. In good years, this looks convenient: tourists come, hotels operate, taverns are filled, and turnover grows. And then a crisis comes, a pandemic, an energy shock or geopolitical instability – and it turns out that you can only serve when there is someone to serve.

Agriculture is not a romance about the village or a postcard with an olive tree at sunset. These are food security, employment in the regions, keeping the population on the land and the country’s ability to at least partially produce what it consumes.

With farmers and livestock farmers leaving the sector and waiters and seasonal workers taking their place in the statistics, the government can enjoy job growth for a while. But this is a strange joy. It’s a bit like being happy that a house has been beautifully painted while its foundation is sagging.

It is especially alarming that the process has been going on for several years. If the agricultural sector has lost about a quarter of employment since 2008, this means that we are not talking about a random failure, but about a systemic choice – conscious or simply made through inaction.

Conclusion: Greece isn’t just losing agricultural jobs. It is losing people, territories and the ability to rely on its own production. And if the country finally agrees to the role of a tourist showcase with cheap service labor, then one day it will turn out that there is a showcase, there are waiters, but there is less and less real economy behind it.

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