An interesting study highlighting the new wave of newly arrived Greek migrants to Melbourne was recently completed by Greek researcher and associate of the World Tourism Organization, Nikolaos Gkolfinopoulos.
The study focused on Greek-Millennial Migrants (GMMs) who came to Australia after 2008 in order to escape the financial crisis in Greece.
Gkolfinopoulos decided to take a different approach to understanding the life of a newly-arrived Greek migrant in Melbourne by studying their life over a period of 12 months where he also examined the migrants motivations for making the move in the first place.
“This research studied the migratory experience of the GMMs,” Golfinopoulos explained to neoskosmos.com. “The study provides interesting data, verifies expected hypotheses, and presents surprising and unexpected phenomena. In brief, the GMMs decided to migrate to Melbourne mostly because of the by-products of the Greek diaspora; family ties, friends that have already migrated, easier expected adaptation, (and) a stepping stone.”
However, once young Greeks arrive in Australia they soon find that the “Lucky Country” doesn’t always live up to their idealistic and at times, unrealistic views.
Yes, there are more opportunities in Australia than in Greece in many sectors, including employment and entrepreneurship, however, they do not simply fall into your lap. The research showed that most GMMs rely heavily on the Hellenic community for support when arriving in Melbourne and “Many of the respondents feel that the Greek-Australians are taking advantage of the GMMs and exploit them regarding employment and wage,” Golfinopoulos explained, adding, “Also, many are dissatisfied with their relatives because they did not receive the support they expected.”
Overall, the study showed that GGMs are relatively satisfied with their living experience in Melbourne due to the multicultural character of the city as well as other factors such as educational resources, nature and green spaces and the quality of living.
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