Living in Greece

A practical guide to moving, living, working & traveling in Greece, plus musing and misadventures from an American in Athens
Jobs in Greece > Best places to work in Greece 2007

Best places to work in Greece 2007

November 2, 2007 at 20:04 ·

best.gifA U.S. research and management consultancy called Great Place to Work Institute and its international affiliates publish an annual report on — you guessed it — great places to work. It includes 15 countries in Europe, nine countries in Latin America, three countries in Asia and Canada.

Please be aware that the 2008 list was released and can be found at, “Best places to work in Greece 2008.”

Best Places to Work – All Countries

For the purposes of this site’s audience, the remainder of this article will concentrate on Greece. But feel free to explore other countries below.

Europe: Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, Spain, Sweden, United Kingdom

Latin America: Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, Uruguay, Venezuela

Asia: India, Japan, Korea

North America: USA and Canada

2007 Best places to work in Greece

Most of these companies request candidates with bilingual capability, fulfillment of military obligations (if male) and a requirement that he/she be aged 35 or younger. For those unfamiliar with Greece, discrimination based on age, gender and nationality is common practice and one that typically goes unpunished.

It is also common for many Greek companies to not have job listings and not disclose the names, email addresses and other contact information of employees, including the company manager or HR recruiter. There is almost never an employee directory.

If you are looking at this post from outside Greece with hopes that one of these companies will sponsor your work visa and work permit, be aware that these are privately owned branches that do not normally have contact with headquarters back home. Non-EU citizens are highly advised to read, “How Americans/non-EU citizens can move, live and work in Greece” since there is no point looking for a job in Greece if you do not understand legalities.

There is also a surplus of very qualified candidates already in Greece and the entire EU, who can fill these positions with no bureaucracy. See “Common jobs for non-EU citizens in Greece” for more details.

How to use this list

All company names contain the link to their home page. If websites were only in Greek, I provided the English translation of contact information, in addition to the career/job section link if the company had one, so you could search for jobs without navigating a Greek menu.

You must apply to open vacancies, just as you would back home. I do not represent nor have I ever worked for any of these companies, so specific questions or complaints should be directed at respective personnel.

Καλη δουλεια!

1. PISCINES IDEALES

Size: 99 employees
Industry: Construction/contractors of pools
Ownership: Private

Davaki 18
15121 Pefki
Phone: (210) 6148.400
Fax: (210) 6142.308
Email: info@piscinesideales.gr

Career section: www.piscinesideales.gr
Notes: No English; lists jobs, but you must navigate in Greek to Etairia →Kariera

2. MICROSOFT HELLAS

Size: 93 employees
Industry: Information Technology
Ownership: Private

Kifissias 221
15124 Marousi
Phone: 801 500 3000 or 211 1206 500
Email: msgrhr@microsoft.com
Career section: www.microsoft.com/hellas/
Notes: No English; navigation in Greek but job listings in English

3. XEROX HELLAS

Size: 121 employees
Industry: Information Technology – Copiers/Hardware
Ownership: Private
Leof. Syngrou 127
11745 Athens
Phone: (210) 9307.000
Fax: (210) 9311.075
Career section: www.xerox.gr
Notes: redirects to the UK site; no English; lists jobs in Greek

4. GENESIS PHARMA

Size: 147 employees
Industry: Biotechnology & Pharmaceuticals
Ownership: Private
Career section: www.genesispharma.com

5. ABBOTT LABORATORIES HELLAS

Size: 283 employees
Industry: Biotechnology & Pharmaceuticals
Ownership: Private
Career section: www.abbott.gr
Notes: No English; navigation in Greek, but ads listed in English

Athens
Leof. Vouliagmenis 512
174 56 Alimos
Phone: (210) 9985 222
Fax: (210) 9958 360

Thessaloniki
Pharmaceutical Products
13th km. National Road
Neon Moudanion
570 01 Thermi
Phone: (2310) 810 470/1
Fax: (2310) 860 874

Headquarters
Ifaistou 35Α
194 00 Koropi
Phone: (210) 6621 020
Fax: (210) 6621 030

6. KRI KRI

Size: 129 employees
Industry: Food distributor
Ownership: Cooperative
3rd km Nat. Road of Serres-Drama
62100 Serres
Phone: (23210) 68300
Fax: (23210) 68311
Career section: www.krikri.gr

7. INTERNATIONAL LIFE AEAZ

Size: 56 employees
Industry: Financial Services & Insurance
Ownership: Private
Career section: None

Send your CV to:
Attn: HR Department
Kifisias 7 & Neapoleos 2
15123 Marousi
Fax: (210) 8119.296
Email: personnel@inlife.gr

8. JOHNSON DIVERSEY HELLAS

Size: 69 employees
Industry: Manufacturing & Production – Chemicals
Ownership: Private
Email: greece@johnsondiversey.com
Career section: www.johnsondiversey.com
Notes: No English; listings in Greek

Athens
Heimarras 5
151 25 Marousi
Phone: (210) 6385 900
Fax: (210) 6385 901

Thessaloniki
Gravias 5
546 45 Thessaloniki
Phone: (2310) 811901
Fax: (2310) 811358

9. ORGANON HELLAS (Now Merck & Co./Schering-Plough)

Size: 72 employees
Industry: Biotechnology & Pharmaceuticals
Ownership: Private

Careers: None listed for Greece
Contact Info in English

10. JOHNSON & JOHNSON HELLAS

Size: 131 employees
Industry: Health Care – Medical sales/distribution
Ownership: Private
Career section: www.jnj.com
Note: No GR site, jumps to USA; stresses that you must already be authorized to work in the country of choice.

11. TROFEKLEKT MASTERFOODS

Size: 77 employees
Industry: Manufacturing & Production – Food products
Ownership: Private
Career section: www.mars.com

12. BRISTOL-MYERS SQUIBB

Size: 189 employees
Industry: Biotechnology & Pharmaceuticals
Ownership: Private
Career section: www.bms-greece.gr
Notes: No English; has career section, but no listings

Athens
Attikis 49-53 & Propodidos 2
152 35 Vrilissia
Phone: (210) 6074 300, 6074 400
Fax: (210) 6074 333

Thessaloniki
19th km National Road, Neon Moudanion
570 01 Thermi
Phone: (23920) 21600
Fax: (23920) 21555

13. VELTI

Size: 125 employees
Industry: Information Technology – Software
Ownership: Private
44 Kifissias Ave
151 25 Marousi
Phone: (210) 6378 800
Fax: (210) 6378 888
Email: info@velti.com
Career section: www.velti.com

14. CITIBANK CONSUMER BANK

Size: 1393 employees
Industry: Financial Services & Insurance – Banking/Credit Services
Ownership: Private
Achaias 3
145 64 Ν. Kifissia
Phone: (210) 8186 000, 801-11-12484
Career section: www.citibank.gr; Navigate by going to Site Map→Information →Employment
Notes: Has ‘English’ in bottom right corner

15. PIRAEUS BANK

Size: 4543 employees
Industry: Financial Services & Insurance – Banking/Credit Services
Ownership: Private
Career section: www.piraeusbank.gr

16. NESTLE HELLAS

Size: 526 employees
Industry: Industrial Services – Food
Ownership: Private
Career section: www.nestle.gr
Notes: No English; job listings and submission process in Greek.

Athens
Patroklou 4
151 25 Marousi
Phone: (210) 6884 111
Fax: (210) 6800 810

Patra
Old National Road of Patra
Athinon & Ag. Lavras 2
26 500 Aktaion
Phone: (2610) 99.07.62/63
Fax: (2610) 99.07.64

17. MELLON COLLECTION SERVICES

Size: 283 employees
Industry: Financial Services & Insurance
Ownership: Private
Career section: www.mellongroup.com

18. PERNOD RICARD HELLAS

Size: 173 employees
Industry: Beverage Distributor
Ownership: Private
Career section: www.pernod-ricard.com

19. INTRALOT

Size: 353 employees
Industry: Information Technology
Ownership: Private
Career section: www.intralot.com

20. HELLENIC AEROSPACE INDUSTRY (HAI)

Size: 2772 employees
Industry: Aerospace
Ownership: Publicly quoted/held

Head Office
Athens Tower
2-4 Mesogion Ave
115 27 Athens
Phone: (210) 7799 622
Fax: (210) 7797 670
Career section: None

Related posts

“Best places to work in Greece 2009”
“Examples of jobs and salaries in Athens, Greece”
“Jobs in Greece” or continue your job search using the links in the third column

* Article updated November 28, 2009

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6 Comments

  Unohoo wrote @ November 2nd, 2007 at 21:10

Hey I would have thought that the best two places to work in Greece would be the American Naval Base in Crete, and the American Embassy in Athens. Good salaries and bagels w/cream cheese for breakfast. Yummy!!

Ok, go ahead and slap me now! I know you already covered this in an old post…”Getting a job at an American Embassy“

  graffic wrote @ November 8th, 2007 at 16:07

I got my job through: www dot kariera dot gr :)

  Kat wrote @ February 15th, 2008 at 07:35

It’s not cultural, it’s called discrimination. Read the article and comments on “Value of a university degree in Greece,” you’ll see a bit more from readers.

They’re looking for young, beautiful, cheap, unskilled workers with no responsibilities at home, who will work for peanuts; it’s not about being productive, intelligent, experienced and mature. It’s also not just about age, it’s about connections.

  Apostoli wrote @ February 15th, 2008 at 07:25

I was wonder are most jobs for people under 35? Is it a cultural thing? I guess moving to greece for me would be difficult since I am over 35… Sorry if this has been discussed elsewhere

  Elundin wrote @ March 7th, 2008 at 16:22

Ok, unfortunately I’m a female, around 33, married with no kids yet, and Greek. Im not pretty, im highly intelligent, skilled, carry tons of work experience, my degrees (with honors), and my 4 languages. I do expect fair payment for the quality and quantity of work I will give in return for that money. Fair is NO job that will pay me with peanuts (600 euros per month).
Most interviews I went to I was either overqualified for, underqualified for, too ugly, too about-to-get-knocked-up. I almost gave up trying and settle for a life at home playing housewife.
Top incident i had was an interview for a Sales Executive position in a high ranking hotel chain. Sales Managers comes into the interview and asks “ok and what are we supposed to do if you get pregnant in *two* years from now”. I smileyed innocently (and fully aware that I had lost the position right then and there), gave him my cutest smile and said “you will pay for my legal leave, and offer all support I am entitled to till I get back”. Then, I got up from my chair, turned to the guy and told him that he would hear from my lawyer with a legal suite as big as my bum, charging him with discrimination. Naturally, I never even called my lawyer, but it felt good to have him turn blank for a second there.
After about 2 years of looking, going to interviews, despairing (yes, i dont work out of vice, but out of necessity, as most people i know), i finally got called in for an interview at a company called TUI, for a totally different job that I hold today. I wasnt very keen on that job, since it would require relocation for six months each year, but i said, ok ill just go for the experience of getting interviewed by a multinational company. The interview lasted about an hour, was thorough, and focused on my skill and my behavior rather than my bum or my looks.
I got offered a better job in the end. More fitting to my skills and education and work experience. And that solely because my company does not discriminate, but prefers putting skilled people into work.
Any bimbo can pick up the phone, but it takes someone with 10 grams of brains to actually make a solid dialogue with.
I admit I could receive a better payment, but considering the market atm, I am happy with what I have.
Its a very multinational environment, we have people from all over Europe working here. Its fun and stable.
The point of this post? Greece is a horrible country, especially if youre a woman around the reproductive age. But if you dig deep enough and hold on, you WILL get your break. Just dont be blind enough to pass it. And dont think for a second that your problems are related to the fact that you are a foreigner. Its the same thing for us as well.

Good luck and hold on there!
PS: I cant really udnerstand why you felt drawn to Greece. I cant wait to get away from it tbh.

  Kat wrote @ March 7th, 2008 at 17:54

I say many times on this site that discrimination is across the board, regardless of age, gender or nationality, including in this article above. Perhaps you missed it. I also illustrate this in the post called, “Examples of jobs and salaries in Athens” in which many commentators share their stories and validate what I say.

After 10 years of stagnation and being abused by Greek employers, my career is back on track and advancing because I’m now employed with UK/USA companies outside of Greece that value and pay me on time. I’m more than a decade in my field and (some say) fairly good at it, so jumping to another industry was not an option and unnecessary, though I can understand why it’s important to be flexible and open to other possibilities when abroad.

As I say elsewhere on this site, my reasons for being here 10 years ago are no longer valid and different than they are now, and we will be leaving. Nevertheless, it’s important to create happiness wherever I am…that’s just how I choose to live life.

Sorry, comments are closed at this time.