What’s your opinion of this article https://cyprus-mail.com/2024/07/20/cypriots-are-not-ambitious/ written by?
Basically it says the older generation of Cypriots were looking for "a job for life" while people entering in the last 5 to 10 years (Generation Z) are not:
Instead, they’re looking for a fulfilling career. They’re seeking jobs that allow them to travel, to work remotely, to make a difference…And they’re not that bothered by pay, even with the island’s notoriously low salaries.
Oddly, the writer characterizes the older generation as being ambitious while most want to be teachers or lawyers. As you probably know, only the top rung of lawyers make good money and teachers in Cyprus are, well, you know about those.
My gran, my mum, my dad, and three of my aunts were teachers,” says 33-year-old English educator Anna Pantelides. “Education is in my blood, and I love it because I get to make a difference in students’ lives every day, just like my family did.
Posted by cyprusgreekstudent
12 Comments
**They are demoralized first.**
**They don’t believe they can become rich so they choose to do something that doesn’t pay as well but gives them peace.**
**Ambition in Cyprus was related to making money, big house expensive car. Young people care now more about lifestyle.**
**The problem with Cypriots in the past is that they want to take someone else path to get where they desire.**
**Accountant, Lawyer, and Civil servant jobs used to be the pathways, Now they are oversaturated and the competition for the jobs is quite high.**
Unlike boomers, Generation Z possesses significantly more advanced digital skills, granting them access to a global marketplace. As a result, Generation Z is less likely to tolerate the unfavorable conditions often associated with boomer-dominated workplaces, such as toxic environments, low wages, and unreasonable expectations. They are aware of their options and are quick to move on if their needs are not met. If an employer fails to offer a competitive salary during interview negotiations? Next. No proper salary increase? Next. No flexible working environment? Next.
The sooner boomers realize this, the better they can retain their employees.
Your country and the rest of the world is on fire, basic benefits which made all previous generations thrive are forever lost and will not return in your lifetime, why dont you want to wake up at 5am, have an ice bath and seize the day?
The older generation, without any higher education or special expertise, could be making a salary that could sustain a family and pay off a mortgage for a house+car. Today you can be a valedictorian with doctorate making minimum wage that can’t even sustain a person living alone. So people turn to jobs that offer better quality of life, since better pay is out of the question. Saying the older generation is ambitious while the younger generation isn’t, is a gross and entitled way of describing past and current socio-economic realities.
I did not read the articles, but from the title, I can say that I have the same feeling since I finished school here in Cyprus.
First of all, Cyprus faces difficulties with water and agriculture sector. The shortage of water to water the crops on an Island surrounded by water made me think why there are 0 research faculties in the Unirsity of Cyprus that will research alternative ways of sea water Desalination?
The electricity cost and alternative energy resources on Island that is being advertised for tourists as place with 360 days of Sunshime. Cyprus is still burning oil to generate its electricity. There are no known projects to build new solar farms (if am wrong, let me know). The residents are using 3rd party services to install solar panels and then sell the excess electricity via AEC network to their neighbours who dont have solar panels at full price just like they were burning oil??? Easy money for AEC.
Cyprus offers the one of the lowest taxes for businesses in Europe. But the only local businesses I see that are run by locals are hotels, restaurants, some small shops, barbers, souvlakia, cafeterias etc. Most of these businesses are focused on the local market so they are not using the full low taxes potential like the companies that are working on global market. Like the majority of online services and comapnies that currently operate on the island. Forex, online casinos, gaming companies, AI services, crypto, billing and financial services, and many more IT related services that are focused on global market.
From what I see, Cypriots are mostly either working in their family business, in the government (police, teachers, nurses, other government sectors), and then the banks lawers accountats that service mostly the foreign businisses. Dont get me wrong there are some really hardworking and professional Cypriots in various fields. But they are the minority.
There is no to very little ambition for innovation or creating something new. Especially in the older generations.
Cyprus offers so many opportunities, but the locals fail to realise them. Maybe due to low education, but it is mostly due to mentality.
Its all about the prospective.
Surtin souvla panw! Ena perasoume!
I agree that us Cypriots, we are not ambitious in the sense that we mostly aim for a comfortable lifestyle, rather than making a greater change in the world.
I don’t think that is necessarily bad.
It’s a combination of the island lifestyle, no opportunities, small population, and of course lack of baseline wealth. Ultimately these factors do make us more .. short sighted than we would like to admit.
It’s much harder for somebody based in Cyprus to be successful than somebody based in Germany.
Be more ambitious, work harder. You can only change what is under your control.
There is a lot to talk about, and I could spend a day discussing about this topic.
* There was, and still is, this mentality of “Na voleftoume” in a cushy job with low stress, low demands and high pay. Traditionally this was government sector jobs, semi-government (imikratikoi) and banks (though this is probably not the case now). Also, getting appointed in a managerial position in a family business.
I think a particular “cancer” of Cyprus labour market is the entitled son/nephew of the family business onwer, who got made manager fresh out of uni, who has no experience or qualifications for what they are meant to do, and who sits on their ass all day and bullies the employees.
* In private companies, there is the mentality of “we will squeeze you as much as we can. After all, you obviously don’t have the meso to go to a cushy government job, right? Cause if you did, you wouldn’t be here. Suits you right, for your family not voting for the right party. If you don’t like it, feel free to leave, but you will find pretty much the same toxic environment”
* In foreign companies, who actually might work “properly”, there is the (partly deserved, due to the above) mindset that Cypriots are not hardworking / skilled enough, so it is better to relocate foreign employees.
* The jobs that do hire Cypriots and do pay well, are the ones in barely-legal industries like Forex. We’ve been through this recently on the other thread, and the consensus is that they basically get paid to (quote unquote by an actual ex-Forex employee) “take advantage of their clients’ lack of experience”.
* The only silver lining are the Cypriots who study and work abroad, in properly functioning industries/businesses, and somehow choose to relocate back (e.g. for family reasons) and bring their know-how and attitude back with them. But a lot of them might not relocate. And those who do, probably want to stay as far away from the above bullet points as possible.
As a younger genx who makes pretty good money and always aims for the stars causing significant distress even in my comfortable job, here are the reasons for the lack of ambition in the island, in the order I encountered them through the years:
1. “We cannot have/make this because we are a small country”. This is instilled in our mindset since early childhood, blocking virtually any ambition. If one realises that some of the most advanced and innovative countries are even smaller, then comes the next hurdle:
2. Cyprus has next to zero publicly accessible culture. When the only things youth is exposed to are football, coffee and cookie cutter playgrounds, you can’t expect imagination to take off.
3. Cypriots have a slave mentality due to the centuries of being just that.”Krypse na perasoume “ is a direct result of that.
4. Due to the Ottoman occupation, Cyprus never went through the Renaissance and the Enlightenment. This is reflected in, as much as we try to gloss over it, a theocracy that again since early childhood attributes all advancement to prayers and the divine.
5. Cypriots are jealous and prefer to demonise something instead of working to better themselves. Easy example the hostility against teachers even though they have no idea what that job entails, other than what they fantasise about when they need to blame someone.
These are what I consider the “first principles” of the current situation. All the rest stem from those.
And to be clear, travel, remote work, experiences, is not something genz discovered, we have been doing it for decades. Not everyone could hack it back then, but interestingly, the percentage that can hack it now is the same, it’s just that it is so prevalent now in the social media, that it appears to be the norm. Unfortunately this is another false ambition that extinguishes ambitions that are actually better in the long run.
For any youngsters reading this, if you want a lucrative stress-free career and a semblance of social life, do not get into the legal profession lol.
Success/ambition in Cyprus is having a white Mercedes and 20mb internet, a dirty small pool with algae, two pairs of crumbling sandals, enough weed or tobacco to get through the day and finally a 6/10 lip filler botch up GF/wife
Her gran, her mom, her dad and 3 of her aunts are a failure to Cyprus as teachers.
The only country where if you don’t go and pay 400 per month for extra lessons you don’t pass public school… what a joke. How ambitious of them to cartel with other teachers to milk out society by not doing their job enough so others can profit off of it by selling extra math lessons.
How can a society be ambitious when they lack the intelligence to seek greatness? F off
Can’t speak for younger generations, but the gen-x climate was to shoot all our dreams down, even school career counsellors did this. No, this is too niche, that’s too artsy, you’ll never find a job etc. It required a lot of strength of character to do something outside of the norm. Glad to hear that (according to the article at least) this is changing.