Fernández-Macías, Enrique

This report describes recent structural shifts in employment in European labour markets before, during and after the 2008–2009 recession. It finds that employment destruction across Europe in the recession was strongly polarising in terms of the wage structure, while there was less polarisation in 2010–2012. A jobs based approach identifies how net employment shifts at Member State and EU level have been distributed across jobs in different quintiles of the wage distribution.

A key element of European policy is the emphasis on boosting employment and maximising its quality – creating ‘more and better jobs’ – with a view to shaping a competitive, knowledge-based economy. Over the period 1995 - 2006, considerable growth in employment took place in most European countries. This report seeks to determine if those jobs created were also of better quality. It analyses the level of employment growth across the wage spectrum in each Member State by sector, occupation, type of contract, and gender.

EU policymakers recognise that improving working conditions is crucial to achieving a better quality of work, greater productivity and increased employment – the Lisbon objectives. In this context, the Foundation’s European Working Conditions Surveys, conducted every five years, have been providing a valuable insight into key aspects of work since 1990. This report analyses the findings of the fourth survey, carried out in autumn 2005 across 31 countries, including the 27 EU Member States. Based on workers’ responses, it paints a broad and varied picture of the physical, intellectual and psychological dimensions of work and its impact on personal fulfilment and work-life balance.