Thousands of workers in gray area

Over 180,000 workers find themselves in a gray area between underemployment and joblessness, and very close to poverty, as they have been on furlough for more than three months, with monthly takings reduced by at least 50%, according to a report by the Labor Institute of the General Confederation of Greek Labor (INE GSEE) released on Thursday.

In the second quarter of the year - which included most of the spring lockdown - the average monthly salary dropped by 10%, coming to 802 euros against €885 in the second quarter of last year. At the same time, the share of workers with salaries up to €200 a month jumped from 1% to 12% of all salaried workers.

In total 73% of workers have monthly revenues of less than €1,000, almost a third (31%) are paid less than the minimum salary and 83% of those receiving the minimum salary find themselves below the poverty line.

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