The French vocational training system has been described by Labour Minister
Michael Sapin as being in ‘a time-worn state’. Companies with 10 or more
employees have, since the system was established1971, been compelled to
contribute a percentage of their payroll costs to the financing of vocational
training. As shown in the table, in 1991 this obligation was extended to
businesses with fewer than 10 employees.
In Hungary, teaching has never been a well-paid profession. There have been
no significant wage increases for some time, and in recent years working
conditions have deteriorated, especially for those new to the profession.
This is likely to be one of the reasons that many teachers move to new jobs,
either in Hungary or abroad. In its 2012–2013 programme, the government set
out a clear plan to increase teachers’ wages, improve working conditions
and improve the quality of education. Rózsa Hoffmann, Secretary of State for
Education, said:
The output of the wood and furniture sector, together with the fashion and
the food sectors, accounts for 6% of Italy’s manufacturing industry
production. Despite its significance to the economy, however, there is
currently a serious crisis in the industry and around 10,000 enterprises have
closed with the loss of 52,000 jobs.
Italy’s private sector is not covered by any specific legislation setting
out the criteria for representativeness required of social partners before
they may participate in collective bargaining. All the social partners, even
if they are small and not particularly representative, can sign collective
agreements if another organisation representing a sector or an enterprise is
willing to enter into an agreement with them.
The Works Councils Act (WOR [1]) was first enacted in 1950. There have been
seven major revisions of the act since it first came into force (*NL9709130F*
[2]). An eighth revision has been made this year, 15 years after the last
significant changes, and came into force on 19 July 2013.
Trade union members at Metrorex [1], the company that manages the underground
train network in the Romanian capital Bucharest, have signed a new collective
agreement. Unions had threatened an all-out strike if the company’s
management failed to meet their demands.
For over a decade, there has been a shortage of doctors throughout Sweden,
particularly in the north of the country. According to a Swedish Medical
Association survey of staffing needs in primary care (in Swedish, 958KB PDF)
[1], an increase of 30% in the current number of doctors, or an extra 1,400,
is needed to meet accepted standards of medical care.
Disclaimer: This information is made available as a service to the public but has not been edited by the European Foundation for the Improvement of Living and Working Conditions. The content is the responsibility of the authors.
A new paper, The impact of the recession on the structure and labour market
success of NEET youth in Ireland [1], examines labour market outcomes for
young people not in employment, education or training (NEET) in Ireland
during the recession using data from the national labour force survey, the
Quarterly National Household Survey [2] (QNHS). Researchers examined data
from Q2 2006 to Q2 2011.
A joint study, An analysis of the working conditions of professional sports
players (4.31MB PDF) [1], has been carried out by social partners in the
sector, including the European Elite Athletes Association (EU Athletes [2])
and UNI Sport PRO, the professional athletes’ branch of the Uni Europa [3]
union. The study examines the working conditions of professional players of
basketball, hockey, handball and rugby in the Member States of Belgium,
Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Italy, Lithuania, Poland, Romania,
Slovenia, Spain and Sweden.
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 2009, the second edition of the survey. The survey was first carried out in 2004–2005 as the European Establishment Survey on Working Time and Work-Life Balance.
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 2013, the third edition of the survey. The survey was first carried out in 2004–2005 as the European Establishment Survey on Working Time and Work-Life Balance.
Eurofound’s European Quality of Life Survey (EQLS) examines both the objective circumstances of European citizens' lives and how they feel about those circumstances and their lives in general. This series consists of outputs from the EQLS 2003, the first edition of the survey.
Eurofound's European Quality of Life Survey (EQLS) examines both the objective circumstances of European citizens' lives and how they feel about those circumstances and their lives in general. This series consists of outputs from the EQLS 2007, the second edition of the survey. The survey was first carried out in 2003.
Eurofound's European Quality of Life Survey (EQLS) examines both the objective circumstances of European citizens' lives and how they feel about those circumstances and their lives in general. This series consists of outputs from the EQLS 2012, the third edition of the survey. The survey was first carried out in 2003.
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 EWCS 2005, the fourth edition of the survey. The survey was first carried out in 1990.
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 EWCS 2010, the fifth edition of the survey. The survey was first carried out in 1990.
This publication series explores scenarios for the future of manufacturing. The employment implications (number of jobs by sector, occupation, wage profile, and task content) under various possible scenarios are examined. The scenarios focus on various possible developments in global trade and energy policies and technological progress and run to 2030.
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.
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.
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 economies emerge from the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, labour shortages are becoming increasingly evident. These include shortages exacerbated by the crisis in some sectors and professions where they had been endemic for some time. This report will look at measures implemented at national level to tackle labour shortages in the health, care and information and communications technology sectors, as well as those arising from the twin digital and green transitions.
This report explores the drivers of economic and social convergence in Europe, using a selected set of economic and social indicators to examine trends in the performance of individual Member States. It also investigates what role the Economic and Monetary Union plays in convergence, particularly in southern and eastern Member States. The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on convergence is analysed and initial conclusions are drawn about the impact of EU recovery packages and their ability to prevent divergence.
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.
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