Brussels Briefing: Job quality in the EU’s transition to a carbon-neutral economy

Findings from Eurofound’s recently published European Working Conditions Telephone Survey (EWCTS) reveal how work and job quality have a key role to play in responding to a wide range of policy challenges required to support the transition to digital, decarbonisation and demographic change, which are at the core of the EU’s transition to a green economy.

The new research underlines how job quality will play a critical role by ensuring that new jobs and roles support longer, healthier and better working lives. The findings show how new green jobs will, potentially, be better quality. However, many existing jobs for which demand will increase in the green transition show poorer job quality, underlining the importance of integrating job quality in EU greening policies. Job quality goes beyond skills, we will show that re-training and re-qualifying people is only a small part of a much larger and complex sustainability equation.

The results from the EWCTS provide data on working conditions during the COVID-19 pandemic. But critically, the survey’s findings reveal the multidimensional aspects of job quality and the wide-ranging implications for our lives, our families, our communities and society at large if job quality is not taken into account.

Senior Research Manager Agnès Parent Thirion and Research Manager Jorge Cabrita, presented an overview of the new findings showing job quality across countries, occupations, sectors, gender and age groups, drawn from the survey of over 70,000 workers in 36 European countries.

Related links

• Publication: Working conditions in the time of COVID-19: Implications for the future

• Data: European Working Conditions Telephone Survey 2021 - Data visualisation

• Survey: European Working Conditions Telephone Survey 2021