Minimum wage: Increase to €780 – What the prime minister said

The minimum wage will increase to €780 from April 1, as announced by the prime minister, Kyriakos Mitsotakis after meeting with the Minister of Labor Kostis Hatzidakis.

As the prime minister emphasized, this is increase of 9.4%, This is the third consecutive increase implemented by the government since 2019, when the minimum wage was €650.

“This means that since then, almost three additional salaries have been added annually to the income of approximately 600,000 workers,” Mr. Mitsotakis noted.

The prime minister pointed out that: “The new increase obviously and it will drag down unemployment benefits and all benefits linked to the minimum wage” and emphasized:

“I know, and we know, that wages in our country are still low, while they are being squeezed even further by imported inflation. This is something I hear all the time, especially from young people, who are struggling to make ends meet. This increase obviously does not solve the problem, but it certainly offers significant relief and, above all, demonstrates our intention to upgrade salaries in both the public and private sectors.”.

Mr. Mitsotakis also noted that: “The final amount agreed upon is at the upper limit of our capabilities. However, it is within the means of the companies. I would like to remind you how much support they received from the Greek government during the pandemic. At the same time, the national economy remains on a strong growth trajectory, unemployment is steadily declining, taxes continue to fall, and now is the time to support workers with a new increase in the minimum wage. The fruits of growth must be shared fairly by all.”

The meeting was attended by Minister of Labor and Social Affairs Kostis Hatzidakis, Minister of State Akis Skertsos, Deputy Minister to the Prime Minister Yiannis Bratakos, Secretary General for Labor Relations Anna Stratinaki, Head of the Prime Minister's Economic Office Alexis Patelis, Director of the Prime Minister's Press Office Dimitris Tsiodras, and Director of Communications for the Prime Minister Kyra Kapis.

It should be noted that the entire consultation process, in which scientific bodies, social partners, and the Bank of Greece, and that KEPE, together with a committee of experts from the Ministries of Finance and Labor, had submitted their final proposals to the Minister of Labor, Mr. Hatzidakis. KEPE had proposed an increase of between 4.5% and 7.5%, although for “reasons of social equality” it is recommended “not to exceed the increase given to most pensioners (7.75%)”.

At 11 a.m., Mr. Hatzidakis will hold a press conference, detailing the positive effects of the minimum wage increase on unemployment benefits and 22 other related benefits.