ATHENS EMPLOYMENT FORUM 2026
Workers from third countries already living in Greece: the answer to labour shortages?

When:
Thursday, 5 November 2026 | 16:30–18:30

Where:
ACG Plaka Building, 2nd floor, 17 Ipitou, Athens, GR 105 57

Co-organizers:
The Demos Center of The American College of Greece (ACG) and WorkInGreece.io

About the event

Is your business struggling to find staff? The Demos Center at The American College of Greece and WorkInGreece.io invite you to the Employer Forum, where employers, HR professionals, public officials and experts discuss a practical solution: employing migrants, refugees and asylum seekers from third countries who already live in Greece, hold the right to work and can start immediately.

The event will be held in Greek.

Moderator of both panels: Mary Lampaditi, journalist, Proto Thema

Program

16:30–16:45 Welcome

16:45–17:25
Panel 1: Part of the Solution to Greece’s Labour Shortage?
Refugee and migrant workers already living in Greece
Can refugees and migrants already living in Greece meet businesses’ staffing needs? The panel looks at which skills and occupations are available, what salaries and benefits the market offers today, and what businesses that already employ them have learned. It also includes a short mythbuster on employers’ most common concerns.

Speakers
• Vangelis Kanellopoulos, Managing Director, WorkInGreece.io
• Petros Mastakas, Durable Solutions Officer, UNHCR
• Violetta Ioannidou, General Manager, ELASTOTET
• Vasilis Pavlopoulos, Professor of Cross-Cultural Social Psychology, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens

17:30–18:10
Panel 2: From Recruitment to Successful Employment
Legal Employment, HR Challenges & Employer Compliance
What does legally hiring a worker from a third country entail? Which documents should a business check, what are the obligations and rights of employer and employee, and how do skills certification and ethical audit standards protect the business?

Speakers
• Kostas Agrapidas, Director General, Ministry of Labour and Social Security
• Dr Athanasios Vitsentzatos, Director General for Migration Policy, Ministry of Migration and Asylum
• Maria Rigaki, Partner, EY
• Konstantinos Chatzikalymnios, Senior Expert, Persons Certification, TÜV HELLAS (TÜV NORD)
• Spyros Gkikas, Head of Recruitment, WorkInGreece.io

18:10-18:30
Networking

Free participation for employers. Places are limited.