Publications by subject - Labour market - 2011

In the context of its 2011 work programme, Eurofound has explored the situation of young people who are part of the NEET group: ‘not in employment, education or training’. The research was carried out by Eurofound’s Employment and Competitiveness unit, using the capacity of the Network of European Observatories. The aim was to investigate the current situation of young people in Europe, focusing specifically on those who are not in employment, education or training, and to understand the economic and social consequences of their disengagement from the labour market and education. The preliminary results of the research are presented in this short document.

This issue of Foundation Focus looks at job creation. The Great Recession has destroyed many jobs and the recovery has been shallow, with few new jobs being created. Where are new jobs going to come from? Eurofound looks at the care and education sectors as possible drivers of growth and at the skills needed for a greener economy. Foundation Focus also analyses where jobs were lost during the recession, both in terms of sectors and overall numbers. What do SMEs – who make up 99% of European companies – need to flourish and create employment? Public support for job creation has been ongoing in Europe, but has become refocused following the economic downturn.

European cities are increasingly faced with the challenge of integrating people from very diverse backgrounds. As migrant populations increase, so do the opportunities for new business, job creation and international competitiveness. This report shows that ethnic entrepreneurs, however small their venture, contribute to the economic growth of their local area, often rejuvenate neglected crafts and trades, and participate increasingly in the provision of higher value-added services. They can help to promote stronger trading links with their home countries and foster social cohesion in their host communities. The report examines what city authorities are doing to attract ethnic entrepreneurs into their established business communities, and to facilitate the business environment – from the purely financial to providing training and advice. An executive summary and case studies are available.

The 2011 Report from the European Restructuring Monitor (ERM) launches a database on public and social partner-based support measures to anticipate and manage restructuring in the EU27 and Norway. While restructuring economic and human resources towards more productive and profitable activities is fundamental to the dynamism of the European economy, it can entail difficulties for employees. It is therefore essential that institutions and policies not only facilitate necessary structural change but also serve to mitigate the negative effects that the ensuing labour market adjustment may have for both companies and employees.

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.

On 30 June 2011, a seminar on Youth and Employment was hosted by the Employment and Social Affairs Committee of the European Parliament, and jointly organised by four European agencies: Cedefop, ETF, EU-OSHA and Eurofound. The agencies highlighted the complementarity of their work by each presenting different aspects and perspectives related to youth employment in Europe and its neighbourhood countries. Topics included the transition from education to the workplace, guidance for young people at risk, safe and decent jobs for young people, the 'NEETs' phenomenon and its economic costs, the active inclusion of disadvantaged young people in employment and the global dimension of youth employment. Full speakers presentations are also available.

In the Netherlands growing numbers of young people and adolescents are in receipt of special education, mental health care services and benefits because of long-term illness, handicap or chronic disease. The most alarming increase is in those covered by the Disablement Assistance Act for Handicapped Young Persons (Wajong). In 2001, 120,000 people received a Wajong benefit. By 2010, this figure had risen to almost 200,000. Read more on this topic.

While there has been some recovery since the depths of the Great Recession in 2009, both output and employment levels remain lower than they were pre-crisis in the EU-27. Indeed, the severity of the recession has been such that output has yet to return to 2007 levels in each of the largest Member States, even in those like Germany where recovery has been most stable. Moreover, growth forecasts have been revised downwards throughout 2011 signalling the weakness of the recovery and the presence of negative global economic and financial risks. Most recently, on 21 September 2011, the IMF revised growth forecasts downwards throughout the developed world.

The report describes the impact of the ‘great recession’ on employment and the job structure in the EU27. Quintile charts are used to give a simple, graphical representation of the extent of employment change in a given period as well as an indication of how that change has been distributed across jobs of different pay or skill levels.This technical background paper provides the full set of quintile charts associated with the 'job shifts' report. Read the full report and the executive summary.

This report describes the impact of the ‘great recession’ on employment and the job structure in the EU27. It finds that despite a net loss of over five million jobs between 2008–2010, employment continued to grow in top-paying jobs, largely in knowledge-intensive services and business services. Meanwhile, sharp losses in medium-paying jobs in construction and manufacturing led to a shrinking of employment in the middle of the wage spectrum. More jobs were lost to men than to women and employment levels of older workers grew while those of core-age and, in particular, younger workers declined. Part-time work expanded across the wage spectrum while levels of temporary employment began to recover quickly from 2009 onwards after having borne the brunt of the early-recession job losses. An executive summary and an Annex 8 (Quintile charts) are available.

Findings are based on Eurofound’s second European Quality of Life Survey (EQLS 2007). Quality of life is analysed in different social domains, based on objective as well as subjective indicators. The report addresses the perceived economic situation of households, family life, housing and local environment, health and access to health services, perceived quality of society, and subjective well-being, as well as interrelations between these factors. Read more in the report.

Perceived quality of life is lower in the candidate countries of Croatia, the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia and Turkey than in the EU27, largely due to poverty. Women’s labour force participation is low and jobs in general are characterised by long hours and poor work–life balance. Families are important for subjective well-being, but the rates of approval for public services and trust in institutions vary. An executive summary is available.

Europe, in common with most of the developed world, continues to deal with the consequences of the Great Recession of 2008–2009. This report describes the impact of the recession on the structure of employment in terms of occupations and sectors in the EU27, both at the aggregate and national level. It does so from a quantitative perspective (identifying shifts in employment levels) and from a qualitative perspective (showing how shifts in employment levels were distributed across the wage spectrum). Read more in the report. An Annex 8: Quintile charts is also available.

This report presents an overview of the employment and working conditions of nationals in the EU with a foreign background (NFB) and nationals with a different ethnic affiliation (NEA). The concept of NFB encompasses people with a foreign background, having acquired nationality (by naturalisation or by birth), and their descendants. Read more in the report.

The unemployment rate for young people aged between 16 and 24 years in the EU27 is twice as high as the overall rate of unemployment. The recession has exacerbated this problem significantly. Foundation Findings provide pertinent background information and policy pointers for all actors and interested parties engaged in the current European debate on the future of social policy. The contents are based on Foundation research and reflect its autonomous and tripartite structure.

This report is based on 21 case studies in four sectors (electromechanical engineering, food manufacturing, financial services and insurance activities, and wholesale and retail) in six countries: Austria, the Czech Republic, Germany, France, Spain and Sweden. The aim of this study and of the whole research package is to investigate whether and how improvement of the quality of work can boost employee and establishment’s performance. Read more in the report.

This report looks at the situation of SMEs, with a specific focus on the impact of the recent crisis. It examines the actions of governments and the social partners to help SMEs to weather the crisis and the extent of social dialogue in SMEs, including trends and new initiatives. It examines in detail the role of local partnerships in helping SMEs to maintain employment levels during the crisis, and also presents the views and positions of the social partners on the situation of SMEs. Read more in the report.

This report is based on 21 case studies in four sectors (electromechanical engineering, food manufacturing, financial services and insurance activities, and wholesale and retail) in six countries: Austria, the Czech Republic, Germany, France, Spain and Sweden. The aim of this research was to investigate whether and how improvement of the quality of work can boost employee and establishment’s performance. Results indicate that the clearest link between quality of work and performance relates to training, skills and employability. Training contributes to improved performance mostly through increased ability to use technology and to meet customer demands. Training is also used when the potential alternative, recruitment, is a less optimal investment. An executive summary is available.

This report examines the views and the actions taken by social partners aimed at (re)integrating or maintaining younger workers in the labour market, with a particular focus on relevant measures devised and put in place during the crisis. An EIRO comparative anaytical report is available.

This report examines the availability of quantitative and qualitative information, including their appearance in public and policy discussion, of five emerging forms of entrepreneurship: one-person enterprises, part-time entrepreneurs, parallel entrepreneurs, serial entrepreneurs, and business transfers/successions, across Europe. Read more in the report

This report gathers information about changes in the participation of workers and companies in continuous training and presents an overview of measures aimed at supporting companies to develop the skills of their workers during the crisis. It also identifies good examples of training measures implemented by enterprises. Read more in the report.

This report by Eurofound’s European Restructuring Monitor (ERM) focuses on local employment initiatives involving the cooperation of various public and private stakeholders. It looks at how such local public-private partnerships (LPPPs) have been and are being used across the EU (with the exception of Finland and Latvia) and Norway to prevent or counteract the effects of the economic crisis on labour markets. Read more in the report.

The right to collective bargaining and the binding character of collective agreements is enshrined in the Spanish Constitution (Section 37.1). The system of collective bargaining is thoroughly regulated in Title III of the Workers’ Statute. In particular, Section 82.3 establishes the legally binding character of collective agreements negotiated in conformity with the rules of the Workers’ Statute. However, the same provision stipulates (as an exception to the general rule) that company agreements may deviate from the wages set by a statutory collective agreement negotiated at a higher level, provided certain requirements are fulfilled. An overview report is available.

The legal basis of collective bargaining in Germany is laid down by the Collective Agreements Act, 1949. Collective agreements can be concluded between employer associations (or individual employers) and trade unions. In contrast, works councils – statutory employee representation bodies elected at workplace and company level – may only conclude works agreements. Under the Works Constitution Act, these ‘shall not deal with remuneration and other conditions of employment that have been fixed, or are normally fixed, by collective agreement’. An overview report is available.

Italian industrial relations are characterised by a low degree of ‘legal institutionalisation’. Legislation and the state have a limited role in the regulation of collective bargaining, conflict and union representation. In fact, it is possible to say that there is almost a complete abstention of the law. However, the Protocol of 23 July 1993, a tripartite agreement, represents a kind of ‘constitutional charter for industrial relations’, ‘the basic agreement’ that formed the basis for subsequent accords. An overview report is available.

The legal basis of collective bargaining in Austria is laid down by the Labour Constitution Act (ArbVG). According to the ArbVG, collective agreements can be concluded only between collective organisations of employers and employees. Therefore, the Austrian labour law systematically benefits multi-employer bargaining. Consequently, the overwhelming majority of collective agreements are concluded at sectoral level. An overview report is available.

The Belgian collective bargaining system is highly institutionalised and coordinated. Over 90% of employees are covered by a collective agreement, placing Belgium among the countries with the highest coverage in Europe. Also, the Belgian trade unions have a relatively high level of membership compared with the European average, with over 50% of employees belonging to a union. The same applies to the organisation rate of employers, as over 70% of employees work for an employer that is organised. An overview report is available.

The right to collective bargaining is set out in the 1972 French Labour Code. In the last decades, collective bargaining has expanded, partly as a result of government initiatives. The importance of sectoral bargaining increased with the adoption of the 1982 Auroux laws, which obliged the bargaining parties already bound by a sectoral agreement to negotiate pay annually and to discuss the sector’s job classification system and its economic development every five years. The Auroux laws also stimulated company-level bargaining by making annual negotiations on pay and working time obligatory in companies with union representation. An overview report is available.

In Ireland, collective bargaining is organised as a three-tier system, with a dominance of bargaining and complementary bargaining at sectoral and company level. For over two decades collective bargaining, covering the unionised private and public sectors, has been regulated by national tripartite ‘social partnership’ agreements, drawing up guidelines on minimum and maximum wage increases. There have been seven successive triennial Social Partnership Agreements, or national wage agreements, since 1987. An overview report is available.

Non-standard employment and, more particularly, part-time work has been increasing worldwide for the past two decades. This trend has been especially strong in Europe, where the issue of different working time arrangements is an important part of the discussion among policymakers and social partners, and something which the European Union (EU) has promoted to increase flexibility for workers and employers. However, part-time work is spread very unevenly across Member States, reflecting differences in legislation, infrastructure and cultural conventions. This report uses data from the fourth European Working Conditions Survey and the second Company Survey. An executive summary is available.

Part-time employment has been increasing in Europe for the past two decades. This is especially true for countries where different working time arrangements have been discussed among policymakers and social partners as a way to increase flexibility. Part-time work, in the widest sense, may have both positive and negative effects for workers and employers. This report tries to bring together the results of two Europeanwide surveys to provide a snapshot of part-time work – presenting both the company and the employee point of view. Read more in the report.

This report examines whether investment funds – in particular, private equity, hedge funds and sovereign wealth funds – help to revive underperforming companies and thereby contribute to employment growth or whether, on the contrary, they strive to maximise financial returns at the expense of labour. Overall, the report concludes that investment funds are neither wholly ‘bad’ nor wholly ‘good’ with regard to the impact on labour in their invested firms. A report and an executive summary are available.

Between January 2009 and September 2010, Eurofound’s European Restructuring Monitor (ERM) gathered information on over 22,000 restructuring related job cuts and nearly 9,000 job gains from reports in the Hungarian media.