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Job creation

Job creation refers to the process of providing new jobs, especially for people who were previously unemployed or inactive. Job creation is a key priority for EU social and employment policy. 

Topic

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Since 2002, the European Restructuring Monitor (ERM) has been monitoring the employment impact of large-scale restructuring events in Europe and covers the 27 EU Member States plus Norway.

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Eurofound research

Research carries out research on employment and changing labour markets, restructuring and job creation in the EU Member States. The investigation of factors supporting or inhibiting job creation also requires access to company-level information. Eurofound has conducted four editions of its European Company Survey (ECS) since 2003, providing comparative evidence on company practices and their link to innovation and job creation.

Jobs monitor

Eurofound’s European Jobs Monitor (EJM) looks in detail at recent shifts in employment at Member State and aggregate EU levels, covering cases of job creation and job loss by occupation and sector.

 

Restructuring monitor

The European Restructuring Monitor (ERM) has recently explored the case of SMEs, meaning companies with fewer than 250 employees, as a source of job creation. It found that SMEs are likely to have contributed to improved employment levels and increasingly gain attention as a source of job creation in Europe. However, due to the large scale of the SME population, there is considerable heterogeneity among them, and not all are equally dynamic job creators.

Born globals

‘Born global’ enterprises – young companies with an international mindset – are also dynamic in job creation, despite their low share among enterprises. Eurofound research has looked at the potential of job creation in these new international businesses. It characterises born globals and outline their main strengths and weaknesses, as well as economic and labour market potential. 

Sector focus

A study on the creation of more and better jobs in home-care services highlights the persistent labour shortages in the health and social care sector. It analyses initiatives that were successful in either creating more jobs in the sector, or improving the quality of its jobs, with the dual aim of attracting new recruits and retaining existing staff.

As part of a pilot project on the future of manufacturing in Europe from 2015 to 2018, Eurofound gathered information on the reshoring of manufacturing and other value-chain activities to the EU and the resulting job gains.

Key outputs

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Reshoring – namely the relocation of value chain activities back to the home country or its nearby region – has attracted an increasing interest both among scholars and policymakers. The...

1 aprill 2019
Publication
Research report
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As Europe’s population ages, the number of adults needing long-term care is increasing. There are, however, persistent labour shortages in the health and social care sector; well-qualified staff are particularly...

10 september 2013
Publication
Research report

EU context

The European Commission’s Investment Plan for Europe adopted in November 2014 focuses on creating jobs and boosting growth by making smarter use of financial resources, removing obstacles to investment and providing visibility and technical assistance to investment projects. Building on this, the InvestEU Programme 2021–2027 will further boost investment, innovation and job creation by making EU funding simpler to access and more effective. 

Research shows that the strongest recent structural employment growth was recorded in the health and care sectors and in information and communication technologies. Both sectors have strong potential for continued job creation, along with green jobs, as highlighted in the Commission’s 2012 ‘Employment package’. 

The Commission has recognised the contribution of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) to economic development and labour markets in the EU, and it supports SMEs through a variety of policies and instruments. In 2016, the European Parliament issued a resolution on how best to support the job creation potential of SMEs.

Eurofound’s work on job creation links in with the Commission’s 2019–2024 priority on an economy that works for people. 

 

European Industrial Relations Dictionary 

Eurofound expert(s)

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
Publications results (108)

While restructuring is increasingly acknowledged as an inherent characteristic of economic development and receives substantial policy attention at European and Member State level, the regional perspective on it is rarely discussed. However, most large-scale restructurings affect the regions and

09 September 2014

According to the 2014 spring forecast from the European Commission DG-ECFIN, ‘the economic outlook is strengthening’ and ‘leading indicators point to GDP growth gaining momentum’. Some measure of modest growth has now returned to the majority of Member States. This issue includes: Macroeconomic

23 July 2014

This report looks in detail at recent shifts in the employment structure at Member State and EU level, examining the main sectors and occupations that have contributed to job loss and job growth. It finds, for example, that in 2011–2013, the majority of net employment losses continued to occur in

07 July 2014

According to the most recent European economic forecast from the European Commission’s DG-ECFIN, the recovery is broadening, as some measure of modest growth returns to the majority of Member States. DG-ECFIN also points to growing internal consumer demand as the driver of recent growth ‘reducing

24 April 2014

Recent months have seen an improvement in economic outlook, a calming of the sovereign debt crisis and a stabilisation of unemployment rates. ECB President Mario Draghi was, however, cautious in his assessment of the emergent European recovery in January, calling it ‘modest’, ‘weak’ and ‘fragile’

28 January 2014

The 2013 annual report from the European Restructuring Monitor (ERM) presents a retrospective of over a decade of measuring the impact of large-scale restructuring activity in Europe. Based on a database containing details of over 16,000 large-scale restructuring events– each generally involving at

03 December 2013

Prospects for growth in the EU are improving thanks to the combination of a smaller fiscal drag, stronger external demand and a gradual improvement in private sector lending conditions. The International Monetary Fund (IMF) forecasts that output will increase in the euro zone by 1.1% in 2014 after a

30 October 2013

ERMi eesmärk on vaadelda ELi liikmesriikides ja Norras toimuvaid restruktureerimisi. Alates 2002. aastast mõõdetakse restruktureerimiste mõju tööhõivele liikmesriikide päeva- ja ärilehtedes ilmunud teadete põhjal.

22 October 2013

As Europe’s population ages, the number of adults needing long-term care is increasing. There are, however, persistent labour shortages in the health and social care sector; well-qualified staff are particularly lacking. At a time when unemployment across much of Europe is high, this study considers

10 September 2013

As in the first quarter of the year, the European economic outlook remains uncertain, the current recession being forecast to give way to modest growth in 2014. In June, the ECB revised its forecasts for growth in 2013 down to -0.6%, raising those for 2014 to +1.1%. This second issue for 2013

23 July 2013

Online resources results (44)

Reorganisation and reduction of statutory working time: early assessment of the Robien law

The publication of an assessment commissioned by the National Assembly's Finance Commission, and the campaign for the May/June 1997 general election, have reopened the debate in France on the content and efficiency of the Robien law, which seeks to encourage working time reductions and

Reduction of working time is key issue

In the framework of negotiations for the two-year National General Collective Agreement covering the years 1996 and 1997, the GSEE (Greek General Confederation of Labour) trade union confederation placed on the agenda of discussions with the employers its demand for the reduction of weekly working

Sabbatical leave scheme gains in popularity

The sabbatical leave pilot scheme, which was agreed as part of Finland's last incomes policy agreement, has begun as planned. So far, 5,500 employees have taken advantage of the scheme. The Ministry of Labour's target of 5,000-10,000 employees per year appears likely to be achieved.

Agreement on working time at EDF and GDF

On 21 January 1997, the two French electricity and gas public utility companies signed an agreement with three trade unions ( the CFDT, the CFTC and the CFE-CGC). This agreement is designed to improve their competitiveness and productivity while at the same time maintaining their workforce at


Blogs results (6)
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At the very outset of its mandate, the new European Commission presented the European Green Deal, establishing the objective of becoming the first climate-neutral bloc in the world by 2050. The initiative emphasises the seriousness which the European Commission places on the climate and biodiversity

21 veebruar 2020
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Economic disparities have been decreasing between EU member states over the past decade, but at the same time inequality has been growing within member states. Despite national level convergence, the gap in wealth and income between the rich and the poor is growing in most of Europe. Some of this

29 oktoober 2019
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Over the past four years a special project delegated to Eurofound has looked in detail at ongoing changes in manufacturing on a global scale, analysed how the industry will change further in the future, and assessed what the impacts will be for Europe. Looking at everything from changes in tasks for

9 aprill 2019
The many faces of self-employment In Europe

While the Europe 2020 strategy actively promotes entrepreneurial self-employment as a means to create good jobs, policy makers at national and EU level are actively looking at better social protection for self-employed workers. Understanding this paradox requires looking beyond the ‘self-employed’

26 oktoober 2017
New-generation cars boost manufacturing employment

Rising levels of employment in manufacturing in the EU since 2013 have seen the part reversal of a long-term decline in employment in this sector. Data from the European Restructuring Monitor (ERM) database to early September 2017 show that, for the first time since 2005, the number of new

25 oktoober 2017
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The EU has finally recovered all the net employment losses sustained since the global financial crisis. It has been a long and painful process. But there is at last growing evidence of positive momentum in EU labour markets, if not quite ‘animal spirits’. Many of those member states most affected by

26 juuli 2017
Upcoming publications results (1)

This report provides updated data on the scale of labour shortages and labour market slack in the EU and at Member State level and focusses on organisational policies aimed at attracting workers in shortage occupations. It provides lessons on steps employers can take to fill vacancies, whether actin

September 2024
Forthcoming
Publication
Research report
Data results (2)
24 oktoober 2023
Reference period:
20 september 2023

Disclaimer

When freely submitting your request, you are consenting Eurofound in handling your personal data to reply to you. Your request will be handled in accordance with the provisions of Regulation (EU) 2018/1725 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 23 October 2018 on the protection of natural persons with regard to the processing of personal data by the Union institutions, bodies, offices and agencies and on the free movement of such data. More information, please read the Data Protection Notice.