Home working in Greece

Today’s guest post is by Kalliopi and Diona, an electrical and computer engineer and freelance translator, two work-at-home Greek mothers who got to know each other online. Finding out that they were both working from home, they decided to join forces and create a blog, Mammas Work At Home, sharing Greek content for work-at-home mums. Here they explain how working from home is slowly becoming a more popular choice in Greece in response to economic and social changes:

‘Traditional choices for young families in Greece, especially during the baby’s first couple of years, have been to entrust the baby with the grandparents or hire a full-time nanny so that the mother will return to work. During the past few years these choices have been changing due to a number of reasons.

‘Grandparents are still working; families move mainly to bigger towns and hiring a nanny may not be the most affordable option. The country has been going some very important financial changes which affect not only the state affairs but households and individuals too. Long hours keep parents away from their home and family beyond the 9-5 schedule. Mothers do not always fit the ideal corporate profile and may not be the preferable candidate choice.

‘Starting a home based business or working from a home office are emerging choices for mothers who wish to spend more time with their family and continue their career or pursue a new one. Working from home seems to be gaining in popularity taking small but steady steps.  At Mammas Work At Home we try to provide an online meeting place to exchange all kinds of information from practical details and tax regulations to creative activities for the kids and inspiring success stories.

‘Especially since the country has been facing the reality of a new economy, our blog has been receiving an increasing number of emails from mothers who wish to know more about the options they have to work from home. It is indeed very moving to see how mums communicate their concerns about work as well as personal and family matters. And it is really inspiring to see how women seek career solutions beyond the traditional work opportunities set out for them overcoming the somehow old-fashioned view that working from home might be regarded as less professional.’

Enjoyed this? Here’s more from Diona and Kalliopi about Greek home working mums and dads.