Greece: The Tourist Industry, Seasonal Employment and Unemployment; Unemployment Compensation

This is an issue that has always interested me

How do seasonal tourism workers manage during the five or six winter months when they are unemployed?

I wonder how much work has been done on these matters since the start of the economic crisis in Greece.

"Seasonal Employment, Seasonal Unemployment and Unemployment Compensation: The Case of the Tourist Industry of the Greek Islands"
Panos Mourdoukoutas

Article first published online: 3 JUL 2006



American Journal of Economics and Sociology

Volume 47, Issue 3, pages 315–329, July 1988

Abstract. A theoretical and empirical investigation of the employment opportunities generated in the tourist industry of the Greek islands, this study supports the conventional thesis that unemployment is not necessarily produced by seasonal employment. Unemployment following a period of seasonal employment may be voluntary or involuntary. Some employees choose seasonal occupations because they pay more. Others do so because seasonal occupations suit their non-market activities during their off-peak season(s), or they may lack any other occupational alternatives. Any unemployment compensation policy designed to smooth out the seasonal nature of employment in industries such as tourism may accentuate the unemployment problem.