Annual reports
6 November 2012: ERM Report 2012: After restructuring: labour markets, working conditions and life satisfaction (
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The ERM Report 2012 focuses on the consequences of restructuring for employees. It examines which employees lost their job at the onset of the economic crisis, which of them found a new job and how both job loss and subsequent re-employment impacted on their overall life situation and satisfaction. It also looks at the impact on working conditions for employees who remain at the restructured firm. Both these studies, of those who lost their jobs and those who stayed at the restructured workplace, have never before been analysed by using common, EU-wide and representative, datasets. The report also provides an overview of recent restructuring using the ERM database. While restructuring cases reporting job loss have fallen since the peak of 2009, they still outnumber announcements of job gain. Several recent cases testify to serious problems in the once very promising alternative energy sector in Europe. The findings show that much of the recently announced job creation is in the hotels and retail sectors. An executive summary is also available.
21 November 2011: ERM Report 2011: Public instruments to support restructuring in Europe ( [size 6.5MB])
Structural change is a general characteristic of economic development, driven by shifts in relative productivity and demand, technological or socioeconomic changes. To adapt to a changing economic environment, companies undergo restructuring to maintain or improve their competitiveness and, hence, sustainability. While restructuring is essential to the dynamism of the European economy, it can entail difficulties for employees. The ERM annual report 2011 looks at the whole range of instruments available in the EU to mitigate the negative effects that it may have for both companies and employees and introduces around 400 of them in an online database. The ERM annual report also presents an overview and analysis of restructuring activities in Europe as captured by the European Restructuring Monitor (ERM). An executive summary and a database are also available.
24 November 2010: ERM Report 2010: Extending flexicurity - The potential of short-time working schemes ( [size 2620.72 Kb])
In the face of recession, falling demand and consequent slowing production, short-time working and temporary layoff schemes have been extended (or introduced) in many Member States. These schemes, often with the aid of public funds, reduce working time, while protecting workers’ incomes and company solvency; frequently, the time spent not working is used for training instead. This report examines the practice of reduced working time across Europe, and looks in detail at how it is implemented in 10 Member States, with a view to determining the contribution that such schemes can make in implementing the common principles of flexicurity, especially in light of the broad-based consensus they enjoy among the social partners.
04 November 2009: ERM Report 2009: Restructuring in recession ( [size 2918.41 kb])
Over the course of 2008 and 2009, the world economy experienced one of the most serious recessions in modern times. In July 2009, 22 million men and women were unemployed throughout Europe, five million more than a year previously. Moreover, the situation may well still have further to play out: experience of previous recessions suggests that the full effect of the downturn upon employment has yet to materialise. Eurofound’s analysis of restructuring and job loss over the past year is collated and reviewed in this, the fourth annual report of the European Restructuring Monitor. Analysing the effects of the recession upon employment, it also looks in detail how particular sectors, countries and occupations have been affected, and examines a range of responses that have been taken to safeguard employment - at the company, Member State and European level.
07 October 2008: ERM Report 2008: More and better jobs - Patterns of employment expansion in Europe ( [size 2071.67 kb])
A key element of European policy is the emphasis on boosting employment and maximising its quality – creating ‘more and better jobs’ – with a view to shaping a competitive, knowledge-based economy. Over the period 1995 - 2006, considerable growth in employment took place in most European countries. This report seeks to determine if those jobs created were also of better quality. It does this by analysing the level of employment growth across the wage spectrum in each Member State; it also breaks down the growth in employment at different wage levels by sector, occupation, type of contract, and gender and in doing so explores the mechanisms underlying the observed patterns.
20 December 2007: ERM Report 2007 - Restructuring and employment in the EU: The impact of globalisation ( [size 888 kb])
This report provides some perspectives on the effects of trade liberalisation on the European labour market. For its analysis, it draws on data from the European Restructuring Monitor (ERM), the only EU-wide monitoring instrument available. The 2007 ERM report identifies some of the recent and emerging trends in the current phase of globalisation and provides suggestions on how policy should be re-oriented to address these new circumstances.
5 September 2006: Restructuring and employment in the EU: Concepts, measurement and evidence ( [size 981 kb])
This is the first report of the European Restructuring Monitor (ERM). The aim of these reports is to present information on restructuring data, policies and practices. As policy should be based on an understanding of the nature and extent of the matter to be addressed, it is logical to focus this first report on defining and measuring the extent of restructuring throughout the Member States. This is particularly relevant for the issue of restructuring, as there are serious measurement problems in most Member States and even more so at the European Union level. Future editions of the ERM report will focus less on such issues.
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