Greek and Italian executives in search of employment are scrambling to leave their countries.
One Hour Translation, an online-translation service firm based in Cyprus, says the volume of resumes it has translated in 2011 from Greece and Italy jumped by 29 percent and 54 percent, respectively, according to Fortune magazine.
Most asked their resumes to be translated into German or English, since Germany and the United Kingdom are more prosperous.
“From Q3 through today, we've noticed a sizable leap in the number of resumes coming from Italian and Greek customers," said Ofer Shoshan, CEO of One Hour Translation, in a statement.
The translation firm sees a clear link between the large increase in Italians and Greeks seeking work abroad and their countries’ debt-to-GDP ratios. Italy's debt-to-GDP ratio is mired at 125 percent, while Greece's is more than 160 percent.
As a writer for Fortune magazine wondered, if executives seeking a job abroad need help translating their resumes, how can they expect to complete interviews before German or English-speaking hiring managers, never mind hold jobs?
One Hour Translation says its service helps job hunters avoid mistakes that can sink their application, even though Europeans have good multi-lingual skills.
And both high- and low-skilled workers are seeking jobs in other countries, Shoshan told the Huffington Post. That includes consultants, hotel workers, nurses and bankers.
The number of resumes from Spain being translated, according to the Huffington Post, also jumped sharply, by 34 percent.
More workers leaving their own countries might actually be good for the European economy.
A more mobile labor market, similar to the U.S. labor market, can help improve the European economy, said Robert Reich, a University of California at Berkeley professor, noted the Huffington Post.
"If you work in a hotel in Greece, there are no people coming,” Shoshan told the Huffington Post. “You might as well be working in a hotel someplace different."
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