????在希臘神話中，天神克羅諾斯為了防止后代推翻自己的統(tǒng)治，而吞食了自己的五個子嗣，只有宙斯在母親瑞亞的幫助下逃脫了厄運。現(xiàn)在，對于遭受了債務危機余波的沉重打擊的希臘年輕人來說，他們可能感覺自己有點像克羅諾斯那些不幸的孩子——仿佛他們就要被希臘的經(jīng)濟局勢整個兒吞噬掉，許多年輕人都對未來感到絕望。

????在這個擁有1100萬人口的國家中，許多年齡在35歲以下的人已經(jīng)瀕臨絕望了。根據(jù)最新的統(tǒng)計數(shù)據(jù)，到去年11月底，在15歲至24歲之間的希臘人口中，失業(yè)率已經(jīng)達到了35.6%的高位，令人驚恐。人們廣泛認為，年輕人口的失業(yè)率居高不下，正是造成中東當前緊張局勢的主要原因之一。不過國際勞工組織表示，這也是一個全球性的問題。國際勞工組織在最近發(fā)布的一份報告中指出，全球的年輕失業(yè)人口呈上升趨勢，并稱這些年輕人為“失落的一代”。

????光是在西班牙，年輕人口的失業(yè)率就超過了40%。不過在希臘，自從2009年12月以來，這個國家已經(jīng)深受債務危機的折磨，在這個大背景下，年輕人的失業(yè)問題更是引起了強烈的共鳴。如果你把25歲到34歲之間的人口的失業(yè)率（17.9%）也計算在內(nèi)的話，顯然可見，希臘的財政困難使人民承擔了大量的負擔，而35歲以下人口更是首當其沖。

????希臘最大的日報《每日新聞報》（Kathimerini）的知名專欄作家、記者斯達夫羅斯?萊格羅斯指出：“這是希臘面臨的最嚴峻的問題之一?！?/p>

????即便是那些擁有學士與碩士學位的人也不能幸免，許多人畢業(yè)即失業(yè)，還有很多人拿著微薄的薪水，做著與自身專業(yè)無關的工作，僅僅為了滿足溫飽。以斯達夫羅斯?萊格羅斯的女兒勒芙麗為例。勒芙麗今年27歲，她是哥倫比亞大學和戈德史密斯大學的雙料碩士，同時擁有傳媒和電影研究兩個專業(yè)的碩士學位。自從去年回到希臘以來，她已經(jīng)發(fā)出了30多份簡歷，但至今仍毫無收獲，只有一兩家公司想讓她去做不領取薪水的實習生。她現(xiàn)在正考慮回到倫敦去——她有一個學位是在倫敦獲得的。

????“我非常傷心，也非常沮喪。我愛我的國家、我的家庭、我的朋友。我的人生在這里，”她說：“你花了很多的錢，付出了很多努力，等你回到祖國后，你卻聽到他們說：‘你知道嗎，這里不適合你?！缓缶妥屇汶x開。這很不公平。我感覺自己必須在個人生活和事業(yè)之間做出取舍?！?/p>

????今年34歲的伊沃阿尼斯?弗洛卡斯是倫敦經(jīng)濟學院的工商管理碩士，他對此也有深有共鳴。他已經(jīng)在希臘發(fā)出了787份簡歷，還投了50份海外簡歷。他嘆道：“我知道到底投了多少份，因為我一直在數(shù)著?！彼邪四甑墓ぷ鹘?jīng)驗，曾效力于公共部門，做過醫(yī)院的院務主任，也曾效力于私人部門，做過金融分析師。

????伊沃阿尼斯?弗洛卡斯已經(jīng)結婚了，而且不久就要當爸爸了。因此他拼命掙錢，四處打零工，為各種市場營銷公司和制藥公司做調查、搜集統(tǒng)計資料。每找人填寫一份調查表，他只能賺到10到25歐元。

????他說：“現(xiàn)在不是找工作的時候。如果可以的話，我會離開這個國家?！?/p>

????他并不是唯一一個這樣想的希臘人。根據(jù)一家中間偏左翼的報紙《To Vima》最近發(fā)布的調查，在22到35歲的希臘人中，每10個人里，就有4個人在積極地尋找海外的工作機會。另一份由馬其頓大學發(fā)布的調查顯示，在海外求學的希臘留學學生中，有85%的學生都選擇留在當?shù)亍?/p>

????24歲的斯沃?尼科拉奧就是其中的一個。他剛剛在英國華威大學獲得國際關系學碩士學位。至少在現(xiàn)在，他還不準備回國。他接受了英國廣播公司（BBC World Service）在倫敦的一個實習機會。他說：“我要是回到希臘，要想找到一份稱心的工作，機率很渺茫。我想我只有在放假的時候才能回家了?！?/p>

????25歲的辛西婭?斯帕諾曾榮獲富爾布萊特獎學金，她正在哥倫比亞大學攻讀電子工程學碩士學位。她也表示自己不指望短期內(nèi)會回國工作?！拔业呐笥押陀H戚們都說：‘別回來了。你找不到工作的。’”

????難怪這么多的希臘年輕人看起來如此茫然。在雅典北郊的阿吉亞帕拉斯夫市，美國希臘學院（American College of Greece）的社會學副教授喬治亞?拉古爾米茲經(jīng)常看見學生們在校園里漫無目的徘徊。她說：“他們看起來沒有目標、沒有希望。每代人是被其社會意識，以及某一社會事件對其產(chǎn)生的影響而定義的。這一代希臘人將會被定義成經(jīng)濟危機的一代人。他們是‘失落的一代’?！?/p>

????希臘總理喬治?帕潘德里歐領導下的社會主義政府也意識到了這一問題。不過政府相信，除了當前的經(jīng)濟危機之外，希臘的人才流失還有其它深層次的原因。盡管上面提到的其它受就業(yè)問題困擾的國家各自有不同的深層原因，不過它們的例子都證明，要使一國的勞動人口與其經(jīng)濟需求保持一致，是件十分困難的事。

????希臘教育部長安娜?戴蒙托珀羅斯指出，希臘的勞動力處于失衡狀態(tài)，大學生畢業(yè)生的人數(shù)要多于崗位的數(shù)量。比如她指出：“光是醫(yī)生崗位，就出現(xiàn)了30000人的供給過剩。”她補充道，政府即將發(fā)起一項活動，鼓勵更多的高中學生朝技工方向發(fā)展。“社會上存在著對技術性工作的需求，但是我們卻沒有足夠的人才。我們需要的是轉變?nèi)藗冞M入職場的方式?！?/p>

????今年24歲的康斯坦提亞?薩克薩尼是雅典派迪昂政治經(jīng)濟大學（Panteion University of Social and Political Sciences）的畢業(yè)生。不過，她并沒有從事自己青睞的記者職業(yè)，而是在雅典的一家精品店里賣衣服，每月工資900歐元，現(xiàn)在仍然和她的父母住在一起。她表示：“我們這一代人一定是最不幸的一代。我們開始找工作的時候，恰好是經(jīng)濟危機開始的時候。我們沒有太多選擇。我們要么去國外，要么放棄自己所學的專業(yè)，要么就得餓肚子?！边€得要避開克羅諾斯。

????譯者：樸成奎

????In Greek mythology, the god Cronus devoured five of his offspring to prevent them from overpowering him. Only Zeus, with his mother Rhea's help, escaped the fate of his siblings. Greece's youth, hit hard by the after effects of the debt crisis, may be feeling a bit like one of Cronus's unlucky children these days-as if they are about to be swallowed whole by an economic situation that is leaving many of them feeling hopeless about what the future holds.

????The situation for many under the age of 35 in this country of 11 million is close to desperate. Unemployment for those between the ages of 15 and 24 rang in at an alarming 35.6% at the end of November, the latest statistics available. Youth unemployment, of course, is widely considered one of the drivers to the current unrest in the Middle East, It's also a global problem, according to the International Labor Organization, which called the growing number of the world's unemployed young people, "a lost generation" in a recently released report.

????In Spain alone, the youth unemployment rate is over 40%. But in Greece, the issue resonates within the broader context of the debt crisis that has plagued the country since December of 2009. And if you add in the unemployment rate for those between 25 and 34 -- 17.9% -- it becomes clear that Greeks under the age of 35 are bearing a disproportionate part of the burden stemming from the country's financial difficulties.

????"It's one of the most serious problems facing this country," says respected columnist and journalist Stavros Lygeros of Kathimerini, the largest daily newspaper in Greece.

????Even those with undergraduate and graduate degrees are not immune-many end up without jobs or with low paying ones that have nothing to do with their studies just to make ends meet. Take Lygeros's daughter, Nefeli, 27. The Columbia University and Goldsmith University graduate holds not one, but two, master's degrees in media and film studies. She's sent out 30 some resumes since she returned to Greece last year, but has come up dry, save an offer or two to take on non-paying internships. She's considering moving back to London, where she earned one of her degrees.

????"I'm extremely sad and frustrated. I love my country, my family, my friends, my life is here," she says. "You spend all this money and make all this effort and you come back and you hear, 'You know what, there's nothing for you here.' And then they show you the door.' It's unfair. I feel like I have to choose between my personal life and my career."

????Ioannis Feloukas, 34, a graduate of the London School of Economics with a Masters in Business Administration, can relate. He's sent out 787 resumes in Greece and 50 abroad. "I know exactly how many," he bemoans. "I've kept count." This is a man with eight years of experience too, in both the public sector, as a hospital administrator, and in the private sector, as a financial analyst.

????Married and with a child on the way, he takes what he can get-odd jobs here and there, gathering statistics for various marketing and pharmaceutical companies to collect a mere 10 to 25 euros for each questionnaire he gets someone to fill out.

????"It's a bad time to look for a job," he says. "If I could, I'd leave this country."

????He isn't the only young Greek to feel that way. According to a recent survey published by To Vima, a left-of-center newspaper, four out of 10 Greek college graduates from the ages of 22 to 35 are actively seeking jobs abroad. And another study by the University of Macedonia found that nearly 85% of those who are in colleges abroad are opting to stay there.

????Theo Nikolaou, 24, is one of them. He just completed a master's degree in international relations at the University of Warwick in the United Kingdom. He's not coming back, at least for now. Instead, he's accepted an internship at the BBC World Service in London. "My chances of getting a job relevant to what I want to do in Greece are pretty slim," he says. "For me, I think, I'll be heading home only for holidays."

????Cynthia Spanou, 25, a Fulbright scholar pursuing a master's degree in electrical engineering at Columbia University does not expect to return any time soon either. "All my friends and relatives say, 'Don't come back. You won't find a job.'"

????Little wonder so many young people in Greece seem to be walking around in a daze. "They seem to have no purpose or hope. They're lost," says adjunct professor of sociology Georgia Lagoumitzi of the students she sees wandering around the campus of the American College of Greece in the northern Athenian suburb of Aghia Paraskevi. "A generation is defined by its social consciousness and how it is impacted by a social event. This one will be defined by the economic crisis. It's a lost generation."

????The socialist government of Prime Minister George Papandreou is aware of the problem, but believes Greece's brain drain has roots that go way beyond the current economic crisis. Though the other countries with employment problems mentioned earlier all have different root causes, their examples bear out how tricky it can be to keep a workforce aligned with a country's economic needs.

????Education minister Anna Diamontopoulos points out that Greece's labor force is out of balance-with more university graduates than there are positions. "We have 30,000 more doctors than are necessary," for example, she says, adding that the government is about to begin a campaign to encourage more high school students to pursue vocational careers. "There is a demand for technical jobs, but we don't have the people. What we need is a shift in the way we approach the workplace."

????Tell that to Konstantia Saksani, 24, a graduate of the Panteion University of Social and Political Sciences. Instead of pursuing her chosen career as a journalist, she sells clothes at a trendy shop in Athens for 900 euros a month and still lives with her parents. "My generation has to be the unluckiest. We started looking for work just as the crisis began," she says. "We don't have many options. We either go abroad, forget what we've studied, or go hungry." That and try to stay out of Cronus's way.