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Inclusive labour markets

Well-functioning labour markets are a prerequisite for making full use of the job creation potential of the economy as it emerges from the financial and economic crisis. The crisis had very different labour market consequences across the EU Member States, and some groups such as young people and those with low education were particularly hard hit. The rapid ongoing structural change also presents new challenges as regards possible labour shortages and skills mismatches in various sectors and regions.

    Topic

    Recent updates

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    Societal implications of labour market instability

    This report investigates the social groups whose attachment to the labour market may be unstable and who are most likely to have non-standard working arrangements, and the implications of such...

    29 August 2023
    Publication
    Research report
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    Barriers to employment of displaced Ukrainians

    In responding to Russia’s war against Ukraine, the EU activated its Temporary Protection Directive (TPD) for people who fled the country, allowing them to settle in the EU and to...

    14 June 2023
    Publication
    Eurofound research paper

    Eurofound research

    Eurofound’s research aims to deepen understanding of the dynamics of labour markets across Europe, while informing policy to improve their functioning. Given the persistently high unemployment levels in some Member States, policies to support the reintegration of unemployed people into the labour market and those geared towards specific groups – young people, migrants, women or older unemployed – are of particular interest. Eurofound has produced a large body of work in this area, focusing in recent years on youth issues, gender and work, new forms of employment, mobility and migration, as well as wages.

    Youth employment and entrepreneurship

    Eurofound has explored the employment and social challenges faced by young people. Studies have examined issues around social inclusion and the need to take account of the diversity of vulnerable young people when developing policies to support them. It has also looked at youth entrepreneurship and the types of measures that have been effective in supporting it.

    Gender and the labour market

    Another research strand has highlighted the economic and social costs of the gender employment gap and assessed the effectiveness of policy measures promoting the labour market participation of women.

    New forms of employment

    An ongoing research strand examines new forms of employment that are different from traditional standard or non-standard employment and looks at their implications for working conditions and labour markets. Initial research into the typology was followed up with in-depth reviews of specific new forms of employment such as strategic employee sharing and ICT-based mobile work.

    Migration and mobility of labour

    Research on mobility has provided an up-to-date picture on the movement of labour within Europe and the effect of economic crises on migration. 

    Labour market transitions

    Eurofound has also conducted in-depth analyses of various issues related to labour market transitions, including job tenure, temporary employment and transitions of young people from education into employment.

    Key outputs

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    How your birthplace affects your workplace

    Employment statistics consistently show that having a foreign background has an influence on people’s employment prospects. Less is known about the types of jobs workers with foreign backgrounds hold and...

    27 November 2019
    Publication
    Policy brief

    EU context

    The EU’s main tool for promoting employment and social inclusion is the European Social Fund – helping people to get a job, integrating disadvantaged people into society and ensuring fairer life opportunities for all. There is also wide-ranging European legislation that regulates the rights of workers in the labour market. Moreover, in April 2017, the European Commission launched the European Pillar of Social Rights. The Pillar builds on, and complements, EU social and employment policy in order to guide policies in a number of fields essential for well-functioning and fair labour markets and welfare systems.

     

    Eurofound’s work on well-functioning and inclusive labour markets links in with the Commission’s 2019–2024 priority on promoting our European way of life. 

    Eurofound expert(s)

    John Hurley

    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
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    Carlos Vacas‑Soriano

    Carlos Vacas Soriano is a research manager in the Employment unit at Eurofound. He works on topics related to wage and income inequalities, minimum wages, low pay, job quality...

    Research manager,
    Employment research unit
    Publications results (37)
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    Societal implications of labour market instability

    This report investigates the social groups whose attachment to the labour market may be unstable and who are most likely to have non-standard working arrangements, and the implications of such arrangements, and job insecurity, for workers’ well-being, social exclusion, trust, perception of fairness

    29 August 2023
    Publication
    Research report
    Social policies
    Social inclusion
    Non-standard employment
    Promoting social cohesion and convergence
    Subjective well-being
    Trust
    Employment status
    Inclusive labour markets
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    Barriers to employment of displaced Ukrainians

    In responding to Russia’s war against Ukraine, the EU activated its Temporary Protection Directive (TPD) for people who fled the country, allowing them to settle in the EU and to access basic public services and the labour market. By spring 2023, more than 4.5 million people had made use of the TPD

    14 June 2023
    Publication
    Eurofound research paper
    Stand with Ukraine
    Promoting social cohesion and convergence
    Youth
    Health and well-being at work
    Inclusive labour markets
    Labour market participation
    Living conditions
    Migration and mobility
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    Women and labour market equality: Has COVID-19 rolled back recent gains?

    Closing gender gaps in the labour market by achieving the equal participation of women is among the key objectives of the new Gender Equality Strategy 2020–2025. Despite significant progress in reducing the gender employment gap, it has stagnated over the past few years. Moreover, segregation in

    09 December 2020
    Publication
    Policy brief
    Pay and income
    Working conditions and sustainable work
    Working conditions
    Teleworking
    Health and well-being at work
    Gender equality
    Employment and labour markets
    COVID-19
    Inclusive labour markets
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    Labour market change: Trends and policy approaches towards flexibilisation

    What have been the major trends and policy developments regarding the flexibilisation of employment in recent years? Eurofound’s work programme for 2017–2020 set out to document and capture these changes in the world of work. This flagship publication provides an overview of developments in Europe

    16 April 2020
    Publication
    Flagship report
    Platform work
    Non-standard employment
    Working time
    Structural change
    New forms of employment
    Employment structure
    Inclusive labour markets
    Employment status
    Employment relationship
    Anticipating and managing the impact of change
    Labour market policies
    Employment and labour markets
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    Gender equality at work

    Gender inequality at work persists across Europe, despite the long standing attention paid and efforts made to tackle it. This Eurofound report presents a closer look at women’s and men’s working conditions, using data from Eurofound’s European Working Conditions Survey (EWCS) and complementing

    03 March 2020
    Publication
    Research report
    Working conditions and sustainable work
    Working conditions
    Sustainable work
    Work-life balance
    Gender equality
    Employment and labour markets
    Inclusive labour markets
    Labour market participation
    Job quality

    Labour market segmentation: Piloting new empirical and policy analyses

    This report sets out to describe what labour market segmentation is and why it is problematic for the labour market and society, as well as disadvantaged groups. It takes a broad view of the term to examine the situation that arises when the divergence in working conditions between different groups

    02 December 2019
    Publication
    Research report
    Non-standard employment
    Employment structure
    Inclusive labour markets
    Employment relationship
    Minimum wage
    Labour market policies
    Labour market participation
    Employment and labour markets
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    How your birthplace affects your workplace

    Employment statistics consistently show that having a foreign background has an influence on people’s employment prospects. Less is known about the types of jobs workers with foreign backgrounds hold and their working conditions. This policy brief contributes to filling this gap.

    27 November 2019
    Publication
    Policy brief
    Working conditions and sustainable work
    Working conditions
    Sustainable work
    Employment and labour markets
    Inclusive labour markets
    Labour market participation
    Migration and mobility
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    Upward convergence in employment and socioeconomic factors

    Upward convergence is a process whereby the performance of EU Member States in a given domain or range of domains is seen to improve while gaps between Member States reduce. Achieving upward convergence is of crucial importance to the EU, as the increase of disparities among Member States threatens

    25 September 2019
    Publication
    Research report
    Social policies
    Promoting social cohesion and convergence
    Social protection
    Working conditions and sustainable work
    Working conditions
    Unemployment
    Minimum wage
    Employment and labour markets
    Inclusive labour markets
    Living conditions
    Inequality

    Concept and practice of a living wage

    A living wage has been defined as a measure of income that allows an employee a basic but socially acceptable standard of living. In recent decades, living wage initiatives have emerged in a small number of mainly English-speaking countries, including the UK and Ireland. These initiatives have

    30 November 2018
    Publication
    Research report
    Pay and income
    Working poor
    Inclusive labour markets
    Minimum wage
    Labour market policies
    Employment and labour markets
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    Reactivate: Employment opportunities for economically inactive people

    Employment policies tend to focus on unemployed people, but evidence indicates that many people who are economically inactive also have labour market potential. This report examines groups within the inactive population that find it difficult to enter or re-enter the labour market and explores the

    31 October 2017
    Publication
    Research report
    Social policies
    Social protection
    Employment and labour markets
    Care
    Disability and chronic disease
    Inclusive labour markets
    Living conditions
    Living conditions and quality of life
    Online resources results (4)

    Slovakia: latest working life developments Q2 2018

    An increase in wage supplements, easier access for people from countries outside the EU to join the Slovak labour market and new legislation for social enterprises are the main topics of interest in this article. This country update reports on the latest developments in working life in Slovakia in

    11 September 2018
    Article
    Collective bargaining
    Inclusive labour markets
    Job creation
    Labour law
    Labour market policies
    Migration and mobility
    Pay and income
    Social inclusion
    Unemployment
    Working conditions
    Employment and labour markets
    Working conditions and sustainable work

    Czech Republic: Latest working life developments – Q2 2017

    Continued growth in the Czech economy, staff shortages in the social services sector, the tightening of agency employment rules and legislative measures to regulate Uber are the main topics of interest in this article. This country update reports on the latest developments in working life in the

    24 August 2017
    Article
    Digitalisation
    Inclusive labour markets
    Employment status
    Employment and labour markets
    Anticipating and managing the impact of change

    Finland: HR managers regard diversity as strength for workplaces

    The Diversity Barometer 2016, a survey-based study by the Finnish Institute of Occupational Health, explores the perceptions and attitudes of human resources professionals to diversity in Finnish workplaces. It finds that the key aspects of diversity are age and age-related issues, language and

    23 December 2016
    Article
    Gender equality
    Industrial relations
    Employment and labour markets
    Inclusive labour markets
    Working conditions
    Working conditions and sustainable work
    Industrial relations and social dialogue

    Italy: New solidarity contracts boost inter-generational staff turnover

    The aim of the 2016 Stability Law is to create stable permanent work for younger, less experienced workers while ensuring that the skills and experience of the older generation are not lost, and that shorter working hours or reduced social contributions do not erode entitlement to welfare benefits

    24 May 2016
    Article
    Inclusive labour markets
    Employment and labour markets
    Blogs results (13)
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    Reducing Europe’s gender employment gap

    One of the common values that unites the European Union is that of equal opportunities: all citizens should have the same possibility to improve their lives and participate in the labour market regardless of gender, ethnicity, religion or sexual orientation. Ensuring equal opportunities in finding

    8 March 2017
    Massimiliano Mascherini
    Blog
    Employment structure
    Gender equality
    Inclusive labour markets
    Inequality
    Employment and labour markets
    Work-life balance
    Working conditions and sustainable work
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    The gender employment gap – an issue that affects us all

    In his recent State of the Union address, European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker laid out his vision for the EU over the next 12 months. There was no shirking of responsibility; Europe faces difficult challenges, and the EU Institutions, as well as the Member States, must deliver for EU

    20 October 2016
    Juan Menéndez-Valdés
    Blog
    Gender equality
    Inclusive labour markets
    Inequality
    Employment and labour markets
    Labour market participation
    Working conditions
    Working conditions and sustainable work
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    Addressing the employment and social consequences of mobility and migration

    Eurofound has been doing extensive work on the issues of mobility and migration. This blog gives a brief overview of the different aspects of EU mobile workers, posted workers and third-country migration, as well as a preview of our upcoming research.

    11 December 2015
    Eurofound
    Blog
    Inclusive labour markets
    Employment and labour markets
    Migration and mobility
    Posted workers
    Living conditions and quality of life

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