The Tourism, Hotels & Catering sector shows the greatest quarterly improvement among all sectors in hiring intentions for Q1 2026 compared with Q4 2025. This is according to the new ManpowerGroup Employment Outlook Survey for the first quarter of the new year. A total of 520 Greek employers participated in the survey.
Overall, across all sectors:
31% of employers state that they plan to increase their staff, 14% expect a decrease, 52% predict that staffing levels will remain unchanged, and 3% are unsure. Globally, Greece ranks in the lower half of countries based on overall employment expectations, falling 5 points below the global average.
Sector Trends
Technology, Media & Telecommunications (43%) records the strongest employment outlook, rising 16 points from the previous quarter.
Tourism, Hotels & Catering (35%) shows the greatest quarterly improvement among all sectors, strengthening by 41 points.
Industry (34%) follows, with an increase of 16 points compared with the previous quarter.
More moderate expectations are recorded in the sectors of:
Trade & Logistics (17%)
Finance & Insurance (11%)
Construction & Real Estate (9%)
Professional, Scientific & Technical Services (9%)
Public Sector, Health & Social Services (5%)
Utilities & Natural Resources (4%)
Special mention is due to the Information Technology sector, which shows an employment outlook of 36%. This sector was formed by merging technology and IT service subsectors from various fields, such as Industry, Technology, Media & Telecommunications, and Professional, Scientific & Technical Services.
Due to overlaps with other sectors, the IT sector is monitored separately and is not directly compared with the others in the survey.
Reasons for increased staffing:
The company is growing, creating more positions: 34%
Expansion into new areas requiring new roles: 27%
Filling positions that became vacant due to employee departures before the previous quarter: 23%
Reasons for reduced staffing:
Economic challenges negatively affect staffing: 30%
Employee departures mean vacancies cannot be filled immediately: 24%
Automation has reduced the need for certain roles: 23%
Regional Employment Outlook
Attica (21%): Remains the most competitive region. The NEO is stable compared with the previous quarter and up 6 points from last year.
Rest of Greece (18%): Records the largest quarterly rise, increasing by 8 points.
Northern Greece (12%): Ranks third, with consistently positive prospects.
By Organization Size
Organizations with 50249 employees (33%) show the strongest employment outlook, rising 8 points from the previous quarter.
Organizations with 1049 employees (14%) show the greatest quarterly improvement, rising by 11 points.
Positive outlooks are recorded across all size categories, with most rising both quarterly and annually.
Statement by the CEO of ManpowerGroup Greece, Mr. Charalambos Kazantzidis:
The results of the Employment Outlook Survey for Q1 2026 show that the Greek labour market continues to move on a steadily positive trajectory. Prospects are strengthening both annually and quarterly, with the sectors of Technology, Media & Telecommunications and Tourism, Hotels & Catering showing the strongest growth. At the same time, the improvement across all sectors is supported by stable economic indicators, such as strong consumption, increased investments and strengthened production, with manufacturing activity showing particular momentum. Demand for specialized skills remains high, and the ability of organizations to attract and develop the right people will be a critical factor for competitiveness. At ManpowerGroup, we continue to support businesses and workers, contributing to the transition toward a more resilient and sustainable labour market.
Global Employment Outlook
Globally, the ManpowerGroup Employment Outlook Survey for Q1 2026, with participation from more than 39,000 employers in 41 countries, records a stable hiring outlook of 24%, up one point from the previous quarter and down from the previous year.
Key global findings by sector and region:
The most optimistic hiring prospects are in the sectors of Finance & Insurance (32%), Technology, Media & Telecommunications (29%) and Construction & Real Estate (27%).
More cautious outlooks appear in the Public Sector, Health & Social Services (20%), Utilities & Natural Resources (22%) and Trade & Logistics (23%).
Medium-sized companies (250999 employees) record the highest hiring intentions globally, at 28%.
Brazil (54%) reports the highest hiring intention rates worldwide.
Europe and the Middle East record the lowest expectations at 20%, with the United Arab Emirates (46%) leading, while the United Kingdom (13%), Romania (0%) and Slovakia (-3%) show the weakest performance.
