Press release, 25 April 2007
High business confidence reflected in many new jobs across Europe
(DUBLIN, IRELAND) Economic growth and expectations in Europe remain positive, with high business confidence and falling unemployment levels, the latest European Restructuring Monitor (ERM) quarterly reports. Much of the economic data, particularly for Germany, is better than it has been for many years, and the slowdown in the US economy continues without any apparent impact in Europe. Despite an overall increase in the number of restructuring cases and job losses during the first quarter of 2007, the number of new jobs created during the same period increased by almost one third (30%) over the previous quarter.
A total of 184,500 new jobs were announced during the first quarter of 2007, the ERM quarterly reports. The largest number of announced job creations was found in the UK, accounting for 29% of the total. This is largely due to one single case, John Lewis Ltd, which announced the creation of 35,000 jobs over the next 10 years. Also in the commerce sector, Asda announced the creation of 8,000 jobs in the UK by the end of 2007. As in the previous quarter, Poland ranks second, its planned job creation being distributed among many cases. The largest ones are the Polish police force and the mining company KGHM, which announced the creation of 7,000 and 2,300 jobs, respectively. In Germany, Romania and France, just a few cases made up the main share of planned job creation.
During the same period, 132,700 job cuts were announced. The Czech Republic records the largest number of job losses, followed by France, the UK, Italy and Germany. In this quarter, these five countries make up 77.5% of all announced job losses. Similar to previous reports in the ERM quarterly, the most frequent category is internal restructuring, which has increased its share to 76.8% (59.6% in the previous quarter), followed by bankruptcy/closure (9.9%). It is notable that off-shoring/delocalisation only amounts to 5.5% of all jobs lost, below the 9% mark reported in previous quarters.
The thematic sections of this edition of the ERM quarterly explore the restructuring cases of Alcatel-Lucent, the Franco-US technologies giant, and EADS, the leading European aerospace and defence group. The report also provides a brief overview of recent restructuring activities in Malta and Cyprus.
The full report is available here
For further information, contact Måns Mårtensson, Press Officer, on email mma@eurofound.europa.eu or telephone +353-1-204 3124 or mobile +353-876-593 507.
Note to the editor
The European Foundation for the Improvement of Living and Working Conditions is a tripartite EU body, whose role is to provide key actors in social policy making with findings, knowledge and advice drawn from comparative research. The Foundation was established by Council Regulation EEC No 1365/75 of 26 May 1975.
The European Restructuring Monitor (ERM) is a tool that records industrial restructuring cases as reported in the press. All announcements involving the reduction or creation of at least 100 jobs, or affecting 10% of the workforce in sites employing 250 people or more, are taken into account. The cases are identified through a review of daily papers and the financial press in the 27 Member States of the European Union.
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