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Job creation

Job creation refers to the process of providing new jobs, especially for people who were previously unemployed or inactive. Job creation is a key priority for EU social and employment policy. 

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Since 2002, the European Restructuring Monitor (ERM) has been monitoring the employment impact of large-scale restructuring events in Europe and covers the 27 EU Member States plus Norway.

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Eurofound research

Research carries out research on employment and changing labour markets, restructuring and job creation in the EU Member States. The investigation of factors supporting or inhibiting job creation also requires access to company-level information. Eurofound has conducted four editions of its European Company Survey (ECS) since 2003, providing comparative evidence on company practices and their link to innovation and job creation.

Jobs monitor

Eurofound’s European Jobs Monitor (EJM) looks in detail at recent shifts in employment at Member State and aggregate EU levels, covering cases of job creation and job loss by occupation and sector.

 

Restructuring monitor

The European Restructuring Monitor (ERM) has recently explored the case of SMEs, meaning companies with fewer than 250 employees, as a source of job creation. It found that SMEs are likely to have contributed to improved employment levels and increasingly gain attention as a source of job creation in Europe. However, due to the large scale of the SME population, there is considerable heterogeneity among them, and not all are equally dynamic job creators.

Born globals

‘Born global’ enterprises – young companies with an international mindset – are also dynamic in job creation, despite their low share among enterprises. Eurofound research has looked at the potential of job creation in these new international businesses. It characterises born globals and outline their main strengths and weaknesses, as well as economic and labour market potential. 

Sector focus

A study on the creation of more and better jobs in home-care services highlights the persistent labour shortages in the health and social care sector. It analyses initiatives that were successful in either creating more jobs in the sector, or improving the quality of its jobs, with the dual aim of attracting new recruits and retaining existing staff.

As part of a pilot project on the future of manufacturing in Europe from 2015 to 2018, Eurofound gathered information on the reshoring of manufacturing and other value-chain activities to the EU and the resulting job gains.

Key outputs

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Reshoring – namely the relocation of value chain activities back to the home country or its nearby region – has attracted an increasing interest both among scholars and policymakers. The...

1 April 2019
Publication
Research report
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As Europe’s population ages, the number of adults needing long-term care is increasing. There are, however, persistent labour shortages in the health and social care sector; well-qualified staff are particularly...

10 September 2013
Publication
Research report

EU context

The European Commission’s Investment Plan for Europe adopted in November 2014 focuses on creating jobs and boosting growth by making smarter use of financial resources, removing obstacles to investment and providing visibility and technical assistance to investment projects. Building on this, the InvestEU Programme 2021–2027 will further boost investment, innovation and job creation by making EU funding simpler to access and more effective. 

Research shows that the strongest recent structural employment growth was recorded in the health and care sectors and in information and communication technologies. Both sectors have strong potential for continued job creation, along with green jobs, as highlighted in the Commission’s 2012 ‘Employment package’. 

The Commission has recognised the contribution of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) to economic development and labour markets in the EU, and it supports SMEs through a variety of policies and instruments. In 2016, the European Parliament issued a resolution on how best to support the job creation potential of SMEs.

Eurofound’s work on job creation links in with the Commission’s 2019–2024 priority on an economy that works for people. 

 

European Industrial Relations Dictionary 

Eurofound expert(s)

John Hurley

John Hurley is a senior research manager in the Employment unit at Eurofound. He took up the role of research manager in February 2012. He is responsible for the European...

Senior research manager,
Employment research unit
Publications results (108)

After the output falls between the second quarters of 2008 and 2009, the EU economy is again very close to recession. Real GDP has contracted in two of the last three quarters: quarter-on-quarter, real GDP growth was -0.3% in the fourth quarter of 2011, 0% in the first quarter of 2012 and is

30 October 2012

With GDP growth stagnating, the unemployment rate continuing its upward trend, and unresolved sovereign debt issues in many Member States, it is not easy to be optimistic about the prospects for EU labour markets. The best news tends to be of the ‘it could be worse’ variety. The second issue for

19 July 2012

Significant ECB interventions in December 2011 and February 2012 have helped to stabilise, at least in the short-term, Eurozone sovereign debt concerns. A fresh focus on the essentials of economic activity reveals a weakening EU economy with an increasing likelihood that the Union is already in a

18 April 2012

Поради неотложната нужда да се намали изменението на климата и да се приспособим към него, екологизира- нето на икономиката е аспект с нарастващо значение във формирането на европейската политика. Еколо- гична икономика означава да произвеждаме продукти и да предлагаме услуги с използване на по

16 February 2012

Self-employment and job creation is a key policy area in Europe and is considered to be an important element in fostering economic growth and employment. The financial and economic crisis has had a negative impact on self-employment andconsequently policy focus has been directed at fostering job

24 January 2012

Consensus forecasts point to slowing growth in the EU during 2012, with some at least indicating a return to recession. Sovereign debt issues in a growing number of Member States – the response to them and anxieties regarding their eventual resolution – are one important contributing factor. The

23 January 2012

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

16 January 2012

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

19 December 2011

През 2003 г. Eurofound стартира Европейския наблюдател на преструктурирането (ЕНП/ERM), който към настоящия момент е единственият източник на информация от Европа за преструктурирането на дружествата, предоставящ обобщени данни и възможност за последващо задълбочено изследване на отделните случаи.

01 December 2011

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

21 November 2011

Online resources results (44)

New job creation pushes unemployment below 10%

Since early July 1997, exceptionally strong employment growth has pushed down the unemployment rate in France, which fell below 10% in April 2000. A return to full employment is now a real possibility, but raises the issue of "hard-core" unemployment. In spite of the fact that unemployment remains

Collective bargaining in 1999 assessed

In mid-2000, the Spanish social partners issued their assessments of collective bargaining in 1999. The trade unions feel that progress has been made in job creation and shorter working hours, but not in maintaining workers' purchasing power or in trade union participation. The employers feel that

Report allays fears over impact of eastwards enlargement

On 21 May 2000 the findings of a report entitled The impact of eastern enlargement on employment and wages in the EU Member States [1] were presented by the European Commission. The research, which was carried out on behalf of the Commission, attempts to address a number of concerns voiced by the

Trade unions criticise NAP

In May 2000, at the request of the Greek government, the GSEE trade union confederation issued its position on the 2000 National Action Plan (NAP) for employment, in response to the EU Employment Guidelines. GSEE's critical observations on the NAP are consistent with the position it has taken

Employers demand new labour market policy

In January 2000, the Confederation of German Employers' Associations (Bundesvereinigung der Deutschen Arbeitgeberverbände, BDA) presented a paper in which it calls for fundamental reforms in labour market policy. These proposals are embedded in a fundamental criticism of the current economy policy

Industrial unrest linked to introduction of 35-hour week

December 1999 saw the final adoption of France's second law on the 35-hour week. The debate over the legislation and its implementation, along with concerns over employment, have prompted a major wave of industrial action affecting many areas of both the private and public sectors.

First two years of the agreement for employment stability assessed

In summer 1999, at the half-way point of the Spanish social partners' four-year pact for employment stability, later endorsed by parliament, the parties have evaluated its results. After two years, employment - and especially stable employment - has increased significantly. However, there has been

Social partners react to 1999 NAP

In May 1999, France's National Action Plan (NAP) for employment for 1999, based on the EU Employment Guidelines, was presented to the social partners during a session of the Committee for Social Dialogue on European and International Issues. Trade unions and employers' organisations gave their

First 35-hour week law evaluated and second law outlined

In May 1999, France's Ministry for Employment and Solidarity published an initial progress report on the 1998 law on the 35-hour working week, aimed at fueling discussions on the second law on the issue, which is to be voted on by the end of 1999. On 21 June, Martine Aubry, the Minister concerned

The rise of regional employment alliances

In the 1990s, Germany has witnessed the emergence of employment alliances and pacts at all levels in order to avoid redundancies, and sometimes even to create new jobs (TN9710201S [1]). These have ranged from national, regional or sectoral tripartite or bipartite employment alliances and pacts, to


Blogs results (6)
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At the very outset of its mandate, the new European Commission presented the European Green Deal, establishing the objective of becoming the first climate-neutral bloc in the world by 2050. The initiative emphasises the seriousness which the European Commission places on the climate and biodiversity

21 February 2020
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Economic disparities have been decreasing between EU member states over the past decade, but at the same time inequality has been growing within member states. Despite national level convergence, the gap in wealth and income between the rich and the poor is growing in most of Europe. Some of this

29 October 2019
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Over the past four years a special project delegated to Eurofound has looked in detail at ongoing changes in manufacturing on a global scale, analysed how the industry will change further in the future, and assessed what the impacts will be for Europe. Looking at everything from changes in tasks for

9 April 2019
The many faces of self-employment In Europe

While the Europe 2020 strategy actively promotes entrepreneurial self-employment as a means to create good jobs, policy makers at national and EU level are actively looking at better social protection for self-employed workers. Understanding this paradox requires looking beyond the ‘self-employed’

26 October 2017
New-generation cars boost manufacturing employment

Rising levels of employment in manufacturing in the EU since 2013 have seen the part reversal of a long-term decline in employment in this sector. Data from the European Restructuring Monitor (ERM) database to early September 2017 show that, for the first time since 2005, the number of new

25 October 2017
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The EU has finally recovered all the net employment losses sustained since the global financial crisis. It has been a long and painful process. But there is at last growing evidence of positive momentum in EU labour markets, if not quite ‘animal spirits’. Many of those member states most affected by

26 July 2017
Upcoming publications results (1)

This report provides updated data on the scale of labour shortages and labour market slack in the EU and at Member State level and focusses on organisational policies aimed at attracting workers in shortage occupations. It provides lessons on steps employers can take to fill vacancies, whether actin

September 2024
Forthcoming
Publication
Research report
Data results (2)
24 October 2023
Reference period:
20 September 2023

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