Flexible forms of employment and competitiveness

The Employment Observatory for Research-Informatics, a research centre affiliated to the Labour Force Employment Organisation, has published a study on employment flexibility in Europe, focusing on the case of Greece. The study finds little awareness of employment flexibility in Greece, partly due to the predominance of micro enterprises and self-employed people in the labour market. However, the analysis has identified that adopting a certain level of flexibility can improve a company’s competitiveness. One reason for the low level of part-time employment is the fact that the conditions of part-time work in Greece – pay, security, content and working conditions – are unsatisfactory compared with that of other countries.

The Employment Observatory Research-Informatics S.A. (Παρατηρητηριο Απασχολησησ - Ερευνητικη Πληροφορικη Α.Ε., PAEP S.A.), a research centre affiliated with the Labour Force Employment Organisation (OAED), recently published a study on employment flexibility in Europe, focusing on the case of Greece. The study is based for the most part on data from European and international organisations as well as on previous PAEP studies. It aims to examine the issue of flexibility in Greece in general, while also focusing on more specific issues, such as working time flexibility, part-time employment, the relationship between flexibility and dynamism of companies, quality of work and flexibility, and the system for protecting flexibly employed workers.

Looking at the overall situation regarding these matters, the study highlights the following aspects:

• In Greece, the public dialogue, theoretical analysis and empirical investigation of flexibility are less developed than in other European countries. This is partly due to the fact that the international debate on flexibility took as its point of reference enterprises that were much larger than those predominant in the Greek economy, where micro enterprises are common and substantial numbers of people are self-employed.

• The low prevalence of part-time employment in Greece is mainly related to factors such as: the concentration of a significant proportion of employment in micro enterprises, which seldom take on part-time workers; the short duration of part-time employment contracts, which makes such contracts more precarious; and the low level of pay for part-time work.

Ideal level of flexibility

According to an analysis of the findings of a 2003 PAEP study, Occupational and skill demand in the Greek labour market – summary (153Kb PDF), it is possible to identify an ideal level of use of temporary and part-time employment by a private enterprise that will contribute to its dynamism, competitiveness and profitability. This ideal level was found to range from 1% to 20%. In other words, enterprises that do not adopt these two forms of flexible employment at all and also enterprises employing over 20% of their staff on part-time or temporary employment contracts are less dynamic – less competitive, less profitable and with a negative employment outlook – than enterprises that make reasonable use of temporary or part-time employment.

Quality of employment

Looking at quality of work in terms of pay, security, content and working conditions, the analysis compared the quality of part-time employment with that of full-time employment, and the quality of fixed-term employment in relation to that of open-ended employment. The research made the following observations:

• in respect of pay, given the generally low level of remuneration in Greece, the proportion of part-time and temporary employees who are satisfied with their pay is lower than that of people employed full time or for an indefinite period;

• as regards job security, fear of job loss is perceptibly greater among part-time and temporary employees;

• in relation to job content, the satisfaction rate among part-time and temporary employees is lower than that of full-time employees and those on open-ended contracts;

• with regard to working conditions, the proportion of part-time and temporary employees who are satisfied with their working conditions is higher than that of people employed full time or for an indefinite period.

Concerning part-time employment in particular, the study notes that, when European data are taken into account, it emerges that poorer quality working conditions are not an implicit aspect of part-time employment in general, but that this is actually the case in Greece.

Regulatory framework

Although regulations to protect employment in Greece, according to World Bank data, appear to be among the strictest in the world, the author of the study believes that these conclusions are based on a failure to interpret the protection indices correctly. Restrictions on individual and group dismissals do not exceed the EU15 average, but the limited level of temporary employment – or the difficulty in finding temporary workers – raises the overall protection index. In this regard, therefore, any changes in the regulatory framework should address issues relating to temporary work and the operation of temporary work agencies.

The study does not include the views of the social partners in respect of the issues examined, or other industrial relations aspects.

Christina Karakioulafis, Labour Institute of Greek General Confederation of Labour (INE-GSEE)