Jobs Exist. So Why Do Young People Still Struggle to Find Jobs?
In Greece, a silent crisis continues to unfold. While public attention often turns to economic indicators or political shifts, one of the country’s most urgent challenges remains largely invisible: the lack of accessible career guidance and meaningful upskilling opportunities for young people and other vulnerable groups. This gap doesn’t just stifle economic mobility, it erodes identity, aspirations, and the ability to make informed decisions about the future. With youth unemployment hovering around 23%, among the highest in the European Union, the toll is both personal and national.
For individuals living with disabilities, LGBTQΑI+ individuals, women facing systemic barriers, and people from migrant backgrounds, the path forward is even steeper. Prejudice and discrimination don’t just exist in social attitudes, they’re deeply embedded in the structures meant to support and integrate people.
Meanwhile, the labor market faces a paradox: there are jobs, but too few candidates with the right skills. Sectors like tourism and construction are desperate for workers, yet struggle to attract young people. And when there is interest, only a fraction—20% to 25%—have the necessary skills and training to meet the demand.
This is where Odyssea steps in. Since 2016, we have helped over 10,000 people unlock their potential and find employment.
Odyssea Responds with Compassion and Accountability
Odyssea’s model is holistic and human-first. We begin with interpersonal and digital skills, fostering self-reliance, emotional intelligence, and civic engagement. Through mentoring and life skills training, participants learn to communicate, lead, and collaborate effectively, essentials in today’s workplace.
What is more, we offer free vocational training that aligns with both the individual’s potential and the labor market’s real needs. Our hybrid learning model combines hands-on experience with theory, delivered in our Rentis facilities, our Academy in Athens, a space that simulates real workplaces and adapts swiftly to changing training needs. We also offer simulation-based training environments at the Odyssea Youth Center in Thessaloniki, ensuring access to high-quality, practical learning in both cities.
Of course, training is only part of the picture. Our free employability services help people land meaningful, sustainable work. At our newly opened Job Center in Athens (Mavili square), dedicated career counselors work one-on-one with participants to develop CVs, prepare for interviews, and connect them with hiring partners.If you’re based in Thessaloniki, you can also access our employability services at the Odyssea Youth Center. We stay involved even after employment begins, because our goal is to help them thrive, not just survive.
Moreover, we offer support to those who dream of building something of their own. Our entrepreneurship programme provides the guidance, mentorship, legal and financial know-how, alongside networking and community backing to help new ventures grow from idea to reality.
No One Left Behind: From Excluded to Empowered
But what about young people in areas where such opportunities simply don’t exist?
Odyssea has created a mobile education unit—more specifically, a mobile classroom that travels to places other similar programs overlook: remote villages, urban neighbourhoods, and high schools such as EPALs (Vocational Upper Secondary Schools). This mobile unit provides interactive workshops, skills training, and employability services on the ground, directly connecting with youth who would otherwise be excluded from the formal job ecosystem.
Odyssea’s New Home in the North Is Already Changing Lives
In 2024, Odyssea expanded its footprint by launching a brand-new Youth Center in Thessaloniki. This center brings the successful Athens model to northern Greece, offering a dynamic space for training, empowerment, and connection to the local labor market. It’s a hub where young people can build skills, confidence, and meaningful futures, all in one place.
As Omar, a graduate of the Baker Assistant programme, put it, “The Odyssea Youth Center is more than just a training space—it’s a true community where people support each other.” That sense of solidarity and shared purpose is what transforms a course into a turning point in someone’s life.
This Isn’t a Handout. It’s Real Change!
Too often, philanthropy reduces people to passive recipients of charity. We reject that model. At Odyssea, we challenge the status quo. We believe in agency over aid, empowerment over dependency. The people we support are not “beneficiaries” of goodwill; they are active agents of their own futures.
That shift, from support to self-reliance, from crisis response to structural change, is how we begin to break the invisible wall holding so many individuals back, giving them a chance to rebuild and thrive