Construction Laborer

Most days you carry and stack bricks, cement bags and rebar, and feed material to the masons and carpenters as they need it. You mix mortar and concrete by hand or load the mixer, then wheelbarrow it to where the pour is happening. There is plenty of digging, backfilling trenches and clearing rubble into skips at the end of each section. You set up and strike scaffolding boards, hold and steady formwork while the skilled crew fixes it, and keep the walkways swept so nobody trips. Shifts run roughly 07:00 to 15:00, six hours of real graft with a midday break, Monday to Friday and the odd Saturday when a pour has to be finished. The foreman tells you each morning where the crew is, so the job changes as the floors go up.

Able to lift and carry 25 kg loads through a full shift

Comfortable working at height on scaffolding

Basic English to follow safety calls and instructions

Willing to relocate to Athens

Reliable timekeeping, on site before 07:00

No trade certificate required, the crew shows you the rest

Shared flat near the site, employer covers the first month

Work boots, hard hat and gloves provided on day one

Hot lunch on site every working day

Health insurance from your first paycheck

Help with the residence and work paperwork

You start at 1210 euro net a month. Once you know the site and can run a section on your own, pay moves up toward 1400 euro net. Laborers who pick up a trade, usually formwork or masonry, get first call when a skilled spot opens.

The site is an eight-floor residential block in the northern suburbs, so the work is outdoors in the Athens heat and the dust never really stops. You are part of a crew of about twenty, half of them from abroad, and the foreman speaks enough English to keep you in the loop. Safety gear is worn at all times and the scaffolding is inspected before each shift.