Greece's financial woes 'likely to deter UK contractors'

The €86billion deal for a third bailout that Greece struck last week comes too late to save the country in the eyes of the UK’s contractors, according to CXC Global.

The overseas contracting group says that despite the deal to keep Greece in the eurozone, it is unlikely to be seen by contractors as an attractive work destination for the foreseeable future.  

Two key considerations Britons make before contracting overseas – tax and social security – will deter those who might have wanted temporary work in the country, the group said.    

Not only are the rates of both unpalatable they are also uncompetitive, CXC signalled, pointing to Europe’s other “high growth markets” where the demand for UK contractors is high.

As well as austerity measures, the group's Charles Daw spoke of an “incredibly tense” and “unstable” situation combining to make Greece “not a particularly attractive place to work”.

Consequently, he said, it won’t just be contractors who start to consider other high-growth markets in the region, like Bulgaria, Hungary and Romania; it will be staffing agencies too.

“We’ve seen considerable demand for specialists [in these markets],” Daw said. “Professionals will look to work in locations which are not only more stable, but also more lucrative.”

He said it was difficult to predict how Greece would fare, but believes it is “very likely that the number of [UK] contractors operating in Greece will remain low for the foreseeable future.”