New forms of employment: 2020 update
Published: 15 December 2020
Although standard employment (generally full-time and permanent) remains the dominant employment type across the EU, European labour markets are increasingly characterised by a variety of different forms. These new forms of employment involve new formal employment relationships or work patterns (linked to aspects such as place of work, working time or use of ICT) and sometimes both. This report puts the spotlight on nine innovative employment forms across the 27 EU Member States, Norway and the UK. It examines the policy frameworks of each country, as well as mapping the scale and scope of the incidence of these new forms and highlighting the main opportunities and risks associated with each form. The report concludes with some policy recommendations taking into account the future of work that will be shaped by the twin transition to the digital age and a carbon-neutral economy, as well as a new way of working due to COVID-19.
Standard employment is still dominant across the EU, but European labour markets are characterised by increasingly diverse forms of employment.
Some new forms of employment are expected to continue to grow, due to the twin transition to the digital age and a carbon-neutral economy. However, some new forms of employment may be negatively affected due to the economic and labour market impact of COVID-19.
Many new employment forms are driven by the need for flexibility of employers/clients or workers. In developing new forms of employment, it is crucial to ensure that this flexibility does not diminish workers’ protection.
Working time, representation, along with health and safety need to be addressed for several new forms of employment, including ICT-based mobile work, platform work, casual work and voucher-based work.
For some new forms of employment, the ambiguity of employment status for workers could contribute to labour market segmentation.
This section provides information on the data contained in this publication.
List of tables
Table 1: Prevalence of new forms of employment in the EU27, Norway and the UK, 2020
Table 2: National terminology for ICT-based mobile work in Member States, Norway and the UK
Table 3: National data on the prevalence of ICT-based mobile work in Member States and Norway
Table 4: Main opportunities and risks of ICT-based mobile work for work and employment
Table 5: National terminology for platform work in Member States, Norway and the UK
Table 6: Data on the prevalence of platform work in Member States, Norway and the UK
Table 7: National terminology for casual work in Member States, Norway and the UK
Table 8: National data on the prevalence of casual work in Member States, Norway and the UK
Table 9: Legislative frameworks for casual work in Member States
Table 10: National terminology for employee sharing in Member States
Table 11: National data on the prevalence of employee sharing in Member States
Table 12: National terminology for job sharing in Member States and the UK
Table 13: National data on the prevalence of job sharing in Member States and the UK
Table 14: Main opportunities and risks of job sharing for work and employment
Table 15: National terminology for voucher-based work in Member States
Table 16: National data on the prevalence of voucher-based work in Member States
Table 17: Legislative frameworks for voucher-based work in Member States
Table 18: Main opportunities and risks of voucher-based work for work and employment
Table 19: National terminology for collaborative employment in Member States, Norway and the UK
Table 20: National data on the prevalence of coworking in Member States, Norway and the UK
Table 21: National data on the prevalence of (worker) cooperatives in Member States and the UK
Table 22: Legislative frameworks for cooperatives in Member States
Table 23: Main opportunities and risks of collaborative employment for work and employment
Table 24: National terminology for interim management and portfolio work in Member States, Norway and the UK
Table A1: Correspondents who contributed to the report
List of figures
Figure 1: General framework for identifying new forms of employment
Figure 2: Main opportunities and risks of platform work for work and employment, by type of platform work
Figure 3: Main opportunities and risks of casual work from workers’ perspective
Figure 4: Main opportunities and risks of casual work from employers’ perspective
Figure 5: Main opportunities and risks of employee sharing for companies and workers
Eurofound recommends citing this publication in the following way.
Eurofound (2020), New forms of employment: 2020 update, New forms of employment series, Publications Office of the European Union, Luxembourg.
