Following the financial collapse of Allied Irish Banks (AIB [1]) in 2009, the
Irish government took control and now owns 99.8% of the bank. In early 2012,
AIB and the Irish Bank Officials Association (IBOA [2]) entered a mediation
process at the Labour Relations Commission (LRC [3]).
Young people in Europe have been particularly affected by the recession: by
mid-2013, the unemployment rate among people aged 24 and under was over 23%.
A large proportion of workers in this age group are employed on temporary
rather than permanent contracts (42% compared to just 10% of workers aged
25–64). While temporary or fixed-term contracts can be a stepping stone in
the transition from education into work, they can also trap young people in
insecure jobs. This report from the European Restructuring Monitor is based
on data from correspondents in 28 EU Member States and Norway. It examines
the reasons for the growth in temporary employment contracts across the EU
and explores the situation regarding access to social protection for young
people on such contracts. It reviews the measures put in place in various
countries to regulate the use of these contracts – often with a view to
encouraging the transition to standard contracts – and finally presents the
opinions of the social partners on the issue.
The results of Spain’s latest Quarterly Survey on Labour Costs (in Spanish)
[1] have been released. The Spanish National Institute of Statistics (INE
[2]) published the figures for the second quarter of 2013 in September.
A report, Health and Work Safety in Romanian Food Industry (1.7MB PDF, in
Romanian) [1] published by Romania’s National Federation of Food Industry
Trade Unions (Sindalimenta [2]), examines how companies and workers in the
sector have adapted to EU directives on occupational health and safety.
Malta has seen an influx of displaced immigrants from sub-Saharan Africa and
the Middle East over the past decade, substantially increasing the number of
vulnerable workers and some employers are willing to take advantage of their
plight.
Spain’s coal industry employs 4,894 workers. Of these, 3,407 work directly
for 15 extractive coal companies and a further 1,487 are employed through
subcontracting companies.
A long-running dispute in Slovakia has centred on the extension of
multi-employer collective agreements, which is regulated by Act No. 2/1991
(in Slovakian, 164 KB PDF) [1] on collective bargaining. The subject has
caused friction between representatives of employers and the trade unions.
On 30 October 2013, partners in Germany’s Pact on Apprenticeships released
the latest figures on newly concluded vocational training contracts. During
the vocational guidance year 2012/2013, 482,400 newly concluded contracts
were registered.
The term ‘blue-collar worker’ was introduced at the very beginning of the
20th century to describe manual workers. Two decades later, the term
‘white-collar worker’ appeared, describing employees who were engaged in
work requiring predominantly mental, rather than physical, effort. During the
last 20 years, establishing equality between these two statuses has been key
to Belgian industrial relations. In recent years, technological developments
and the evolution of job functions have ‘blurred’ the distinction between
blue- and white-collar workers that had previously been clearly defined.
Ten forms of precarious work in Bulgaria and the extent of their regulation
by national labour legislation have been analysed in a joint study by experts
from the Confederation of Independent Trade Unions in Bulgaria (CITUB [1])
and the Confederation of Labour Podkrepa (CL Podkrepa [2]).
The European Restructuring Monitor (ERM) has reported on the employment impact of large-scale business restructuring since 2002. This publication series include the ERM reports, as well as blogs, articles and working papers on restructuring-related events in the EU27 and Norway.
Eurofound’s European Working Conditions Survey (EWCS) paints a wide-ranging picture of Europe at work across countries, occupations, sectors and age groups. This series consists of findings from the European Working Conditions Telephone Survey (EWCTS) 2021, an extraordinary edition conducted during the COVID-19 pandemic. The survey was first carried out in 1990.
This publication series gathers all overview reports on developments in working life, annual reviews in industrial relations and working conditions produced by Eurofound on the basis of national contributions from the Network of Eurofound Correspondents (NEC). Since 1997, these reports have provided overviews of the latest developments in industrial relations and working conditions across the EU and Norway. The series may include recent ad hoc articles written by members of the NEC.
Eurofound’s work on COVID-19 examines the far-reaching socioeconomic implications of the pandemic across Europe as they continue to impact living and working conditions. A key element of the research is the e-survey, launched in April 2020, with five rounds completed at different stages during 2020, 2021 and 2022. This is complemented by the inclusion of research into the ongoing effects of the pandemic in much of Eurofound’s other areas of work.
Eurofound's representativeness studies are designed to allow the European Commission to identify the ‘management and labour’ whom it must consult under article 154 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (TFEU). This series consists of studies of the representativeness of employer and worker organisations in various sectors.
This series reports on developments in minimum wage rates across the EU, including how they are set and how they have developed over time in nominal and real terms. The series explores where there are statutory minimum wages or collectively agreed minimum wages in the Member States, as well as minimum wage coverage rates by gender.
The European Working Conditions Survey (EWCS) launched in 1990 and is carried out every five years, with the latest edition in 2015. It provides an overview of trends in working conditions and quality of employment for the last 30 years. It covers issues such as employment status, working time duration and organisation, work organisation, learning and training, physical and psychosocial risk factors, health and safety, work–life balance, worker participation, earnings and financial security, work and health, and most recently also the future of work.
Eurofound’s Flagship report series 'Challenges and prospects in the EU' comprise research reports that contain the key results of multiannual research activities and incorporate findings from different related research projects. Flagship reports are the major output of each of Eurofound’s strategic areas of intervention and have as their objective to contribute to current policy debates.
Eurofound’s European Company Survey (ECS) maps and analyses company policies and practices which can have an impact on smart, sustainable and inclusive growth, as well as the development of social dialogue in companies. This series consists of outputs from the ECS 2019, the fourth edition of the survey. The survey was first carried out in 2004–2005 as the European Survey on Working Time and Work-Life Balance.
This series reports on and updates latest information on the involvement of national social partners in policymaking. The series analyses the involvement of national social partners in the implementation of policy reforms within the framework of social dialogue practices, including their involvement in elaborating the National Reform Programmes (NRPs).
As economies begin to recover from the COVID-19 pandemic, labour shortages are becoming increasingly evident despite the impact of the war in Ukraine on energy and commodity prices. These include shortages exacerbated by the crisis in some sectors and professions where they had been endemic for some time. This report looks at measures implemented at national level to tackle labour shortages in the health, care, and information and communication technology sectors, as well as those arising from the twin green and digital transition.
This paper provides an analytical summary of state of the art academic and policy literature on the impact of climate change and policies to manage transitions to a carbon neutral economy on employment, working conditions, social dialogue and living conditions. It maps the key empirical findings around the impact of climate change and the green transitions on jobs, sectors, regions and countries in Europe, identifying the opportunities and risks that climate change policies bring to European labour markets.
This report explores the association between skills use and skills strategies and establishment performance, and how other workplace practices, in terms of work organisation, human resources management and employee involvement, can impact on this. It looks at how skills shortages can be addressed, at least in part, by creating an environment in which employees are facilitated and motivated to make better use of the skills they already have. This further supports the business case for a more holistic approach to management.
In 2022, the European Semester was streamlined to integrate the Recovery and Resilience Facility (RRF) established on 19 February 2021 (Regulation (EU) 2021/241). While facing the geopolitical and economic challenges triggered by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, Member States have been implementing the national Recovery and Resilience Plans (RRPs) for more than one year and around 100 billion euro in RRF funds have already been disbursed.
As part of its response to Russia’s war on Ukraine, the EU swiftly activated its Temporary Protection Directive for those fleeing the conflict in Ukraine – enabling displaced persons to settle in the EU and have access to the labour market and basic public services. This policy brief highlights the main barriers encountered by these refugees (over 5 million people to date) when seeking a job and provides suggestions on how to facilitate their integration.
With the expansion of telework and different forms of hybrid work as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, it is important for policymakers to consider both the opportunities and the negative consequences that may result. This report will explore potential scenarios for such work. In doing so, it will identify trends and drivers, and predict how they might interact to create particular outcomes and how they are likely to affect workers and businesses. Policy pointers will outline what could be done to facilitate desirable outcomes and to avoid undesirable ones.
Living and working in Europe, Eurofound’s 2022 yearbook, provides a snapshot of the latest developments in the work and lives of Europeans as explored in the Agency’s research activities over the course of 2022. Eurofound’s research on working and living conditions in Europe provides a bedrock of evidence for input into social policymaking and achieving the Agency’s vision ‘to be Europe’s leading knowledge source for better life and work’.
The term ‘hybrid work’ became popular due to the upsurge of telework during the COVID-19 pandemic. The term has been increasingly used to refer to situations in which (teleworkable) work is performed both from the usual place of work (normally the employer’s premises) and from home (as experienced during the pandemic) or other locations. However, the concept of hybrid work is still blurry, and various meanings are in use. This topical update brings clarity to this concept by exploring available information from recent literature and the Network of Eurofound Correspondents.
Housing affordability is a matter of great concern across the EU. Poor housing affordability leads to housing evictions, housing insecurity, problematic housing costs and housing inadequacy. These problems negatively affect health and well-being, create unequal living conditions and opportunities, and come with healthcare costs, reduced productivity and environmental damage. Private market tenants face particularly large increases in the cost of housing.
Eurofound's annual review of minimum wages reports on the development of statutory and collectively agreed minimum wages across the EU and the processes through which they were set. The focus of this year’s report is on the impact of high inflation on the setting of minimum wage rates. In addition, new figures on the net value of minimum wages are presented, along with the latest policy-relevant research in the EU Member States and Norway.
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