Labor Integration and Job Embeddedness and the Role of Social Factors on the Transitional Phases of Greek Youth in the Time of Economic Crisis

For Greek youth, the transition from education to employment has become hard and often impossible in a labor market characterized by low demand for young graduates. In an age of austerity, large numbers of young people shift their prospects towards an internationalized European job market, particularly if their professional abilities are in demand in countries that have under-invested in professions such as nurses, engineers, etc. In this paper, trends and behavior profiles of young people in today’s labor market are analyzed. The study is based on primary data collected via a survey conducted in Greece from 2012-2015 (sample of 1952, ages 15-34). The statistical analysis included Multiple Correspondence Analysis. We found that unemployment and situations of unwillingness to pursue work embeddedness are often related with strong dependencies on family and a high  degree of support reception, while stable employment status is associated with strong social capital but moderate family support. The flexibility of contemporary labor activity continues to call into question work position, security and predictability. Our findings suggest that the Greek labor market appears to present a particular triadic segmentation not common in more dual market segmentated developed capitalist economies, as those proposed by Doeringer and Piore (1971). Our proposal for a triadic structure of the labor market also differs as to the perceptions of the second and third generation models, regarding the segmentation of labor markets (Rubery 1992) where the new form of flexible production and the variable product markets play an important role. In Greece, social regulation plays an important role for the transitional phases from education to employment for Greek youth. Most often, youth social networks, accumulated social capital, and family encouragement, play an important role as main factors of economic integration for young people. Finally, these findings are discussed in relation to their policy implications.