Rebrain Greece in New York: Thousands of participants, the personal story that moved Kerameos

In a packed hall, the minister presented the new face of the Greek economy and the opportunities that the Greek labor market now offers.

In her speech, she analyzed the data on the increase in employment, the recent reforms, the incentives for return for Greeks abroad, as well as the opportunities that are opening up in technology, finance, health, shipping, energy and industry.

The story of a woman who moved Niki Kerameus
Ms. Kerameus also spoke in a personal tone, revealing the moment that most marked her in the course of Rebrain. “In Amsterdam, a young woman, around 28–30, stood up and said to me: 'I have my life planned here. Why should I return?' I told her that there are two paths: to see Greece from afar and be proud of the achievements of your homeland or to return and contribute to its transformation. A few months later, I learned that she had returned. That was the most moving moment I have ever experienced.”

The response from the Greek diaspora in New York was impressive. More than 1,500 participants by noon, including businessmen, scientists, doctors, lawyers, and artificial intelligence executives from all over the United States and Canada.

The event was attended by 35 Greek companies that traveled specifically from Greece to present job and collaboration opportunities, giving highly qualified executives the opportunity to realistically consider their return to Greece.

Reversal of the crisis brain drain by 64%

Rebrain New York confirmed that the initiative is evolving into one of the most essential channels of interconnection between the country and the diaspora, at a time when more and more Greeks abroad see return as a real option.

According to Eurostat data cited by the Ministry of Labor, almost two out of three departures from Greece to work abroad during the crisis have been “restored” by Greeks who have returned to the country.

Specifically:

659,547 Greek citizens have left the country
422,688 Greek citizens have returned to the country
“That is, we have reversed 64% of the crisis brain drain,” it was noted in the presentation made during the event, earlier today, Sunday, in New York.

Reduction in general unemployment but also in women and youth
The presentation emphasizes that "unemployment fell below 9% for the first time in 17 years. Specifically, from 17.5% in the second quarter of 2019, it reached 8.2% in the third quarter of 2025. A single-digit unemployment rate had been recorded in Greece since the period before the financial crisis, in 2009.

The annual unemployment rate for women decreased to 12.8% in 2024, from 22.4% in 2019, a decrease of 42.9%.

The annual unemployment rate for youth (ages 15-29) fell to 19.1% for 2024, from 29.8% in 2019 (35.9% decrease).

Over 500,000 new jobs
Over 500,000 new jobs have been created since 2019, recording a 22.2% increase in jobs between October 2019 and October 2025.

More specifically,

188,086 new jobs were created between January and October 2025.
Double the rate of job growth in 2024 compared to 2023 (93,312 additional employees compared to 47,246 additional employees).
Reduction of the gender employment gap to 3.70 percentage points (down from 4.08 percentage points in 2023 and 6.74 percentage points in 2019).

The sectors with the largest job growth
As the Rebrain Greece campaign aims to highlight the incentives that exist for Greeks abroad to return to their homeland, it is interesting to see the transparency with the sectors in which the most jobs have been created in recent years.

The general sector “employment activities” appears first, followed by construction with 40,928 jobs, which marks an increase of 93.7%.

The information and data services sector also saw a sharp increase in available positions (92.9%), while computer programming and consulting activities saw an increase of 86.3% with 22,838 jobs.