ATHENS  Athens was back to normal Friday after another day of strikes and protests.  But Greece debt woes are still weighing on the country,

Austerity measures being imposed by the government in return for EU and IMF bail-out money are already having a human impact.

Facing a hike in retirement age and a cut in payments, 150,000 elderly Greeks are quitting their jobs early to try and lock in current benefits.

55 year-old Bank employee Tassos Sofianos told us he’s worried about when he’ll get his pension and how much it’ll be.

Young people here are also feeling the effect of the problems here.

Some 25% of young Greeks are said to be unemployed.

21 year-old Vassilis Liatos has been out of work for six months. “Young people here are not feeling very safe about their future,” he commented.

Thousands of young people are now considering leaving the country.

“A lot of my friends, can’t find work here” young Athenian Elias Loritas remarked,  ”they go from Greece.”

For 35 year-old financial analyst Thanos Niforos, who says he’d, too, welcome a move, this  “brain and talent drain,” is one of the biggest threats facing Greece right now.

“We’re not going to just lose our brains and professionals ,” Niforos said, “we’re going to lose our country.”

The Greek government hopes reforms will help the country emerge from this crisis stronger.

The rest of Europe, along with nervous market-watchers in the US, are hoping the Greeks will come through this in “classic” form as well.