Employment and Competitiveness unit
Donald Storrie, Head of Unit, was born in Northern Ireland and lived in Sweden for 28 years. He has a BSc in Mathematics and a PhD in Economics from the University of Gothenburg, He has previously worked at the Swedish Institute for Social Research and the Ministry of Labour (both in Stockholm), Ostfold University (Norway) and most recently led the Centre for Labour Market Studies (Gothenburg). His publications include research on the individual consequences of job loss, temporary employment, the evaluation of active labour market policy and geographical mobility. Donald joined Eurofound in August 2005 as research manager at the then EMCC.
Radoslaw Owczarzak is a research manager in the Employment and Competitiveness Unit, where his main focus is on sectoral studies. He is Polish and has an MA in International Economic Relations, a PhD in Economics from the Poznan University of Economics (Poland) and a DESS in Finance and Banking from University Paris 2 (France). Before joining Eurofound, he was an associate professor at the Poznan University of Economics with main research focus on international business strategies, competitiveness and corporate social responsibility. His professional career includes also strategic business consulting and management positions in the transport sector.
Irene Mandl is from Austria where she has worked in policy-oriented socio-economic research in the field of employment and labour market as well as entrepreneurship and industry analysis before joining Eurofound as research manager. Some of her major research topics refer to business start-ups and transfers, specific forms of entrepreneurship (e.g. one-person enterprises, family businesses, ethnic entrepreneurship), Corporate Social Responsibility and HR Management (e.g. skills development, age management, financial employee participation etc.). Within the Employment and Competitiveness Unit she presently deals with policies and strategies of public authorities, social partners and companies in the framework of restructuring and the recession.
Massimiliano Mascherini is Italian and joined Eurofound as research manager at the end of 2009. He studied at the University of Florence where he majored in Actuarial and Statistical Sciences and then obtained a PhD in Applied Statistics. He has been visiting fellow at the University of Sydney and at Aalborg University. Before joining Eurofound he worked as scientific officer at the Joint Research Centre of the European Commission and his main research topics refer to flexicurity, social cohesion and methodological advances in composite indicators. Over the past few years he has produced in these fields a steady flow of publications in international peer-reviewed journals, conference proceedings and policy reports.
Enrique Fernández Macías comes from Spain and is a research manager in the Employment and Competitiveness Unit. Previously, Enrique worked as a researcher in the departments of Sociology and of Applied Economics at the University of Salamanca, participating in many different national and international research projects, most of them related to the world of work. Over the years, he has been involved in the European working conditions survey, in the Company Survey on working time as well as in the Eurobarometer survey on job and regional mobility. Enrique is currently on special leave.
John Hurley took up responsibilities as research officer in the newly created Employment and Competitiveness Unit in December 2007 and has worked in Eurofound since 1998. John is a member of the teams working on the European working conditions surveys and the European Working Conditions Observatory and is also responsible for developing a new customised report service for Eurofound’s principal stakeholders.
Lidia Salvatore is from Italy. Having studied at the University of Bologna she gained a degree in International Relations and Diplomacy and a postgraduate degree in EU Economics and Politics. She participated in student exchange programmes in Australia, at the University of New South Wales in 2003-2004 and the University of Sydney in 2006. Lidia joined Eurofound in May 2009 as a research officer in the Employment and Competitiveness Unit. She works mainly on the European Restructuring Monitor and on the policies and strategies of public authorities, social partners and companies on restructuring and the recession.
Jean-Marie Jungblut is from Luxembourg but moved to Belgium at the age of 14. He obtained a BA in Social Communication at the IHECS in Brussels and, in 1998, he graduated in Sociology at the University of Trier (Germany). He went on to do a PhD in Sociology at the University of Mannheim while working for the Mannheim Centre for European Social Research (MZES). He has also worked for the Luxembourg Income Study, the CEPS/INSTEAD and the University in Luxembourg. His publications are in the areas of election outcomes in Luxembourg, quality of life studies, vocational training and skills. Jean-Marie joined Eurofound in June 2009 as a research officer in the Employment and Competitiveness Unit. The jobs quality project and the European Restructuring Monitor (ERM) are his main focus.
Sara Riso is Italian and has worked in Brussels for over 8 years for large European associations and networks. She has an extensive experience in managing information and communication activities in the framework of EU projects. She also published various articles about EU programmes and policies in national magazines. Sara joined Eurofound as Information Liaison Officer in July 2006.