The dawn of 2022 brought muted optimism to a Europe beginning to emerge from the COVID-19 pandemic, and the progress of vaccination programmes worldwide brought hope. Government and EU support during the pandemic had kept unemployment at bay, averting the widescale collapse of businesses. In step with the EU’s plans for the year, Eurofound’s focus was firmly on a post-pandemic Europe: the recovery and the twin transition to a green and digital economy. All this changed with Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and the start of a war of aggression. The EU and its institutions were compelled to respond rapidly.
Europe faces a winter of uncertainty and potentially discontent. The cost of living is rising rapidly and the spectre of recession looms.
Economic concerns are affecting citizens’ trust in institutions. Research by Eurofound has indicated a decrease in trust in national institutions across the European Union – including in governments, healthcare systems and the police.
In dit verslag presenteert Eurofound zijn onderzoek naar telewerken tijdens de COVID-19-pandemie in 2020 en 2021. Er wordt gekeken naar veranderingen in het aantal telewerkers, de werkomstandigheden van thuiswerkende werknemers en veranderingen in de regelgeving met betrekking tot deze werkregeling. De resultaten laten een snelle toename van telewerk als gevolg van de pandemie zien: in 2021 werkten twee op de tien Europese werknemers op afstand – een cijfer dat zonder de pandemie waarschijnlijk niet voor 2027 zou zijn bereikt.
De enquête “Leven, werken en COVID-19”, die begin 2020 door Eurofound werd gelanceerd, is bedoeld om de brede impact van de pandemie op het werk en het leven van EU-burgers in kaart te brengen. De vijfde editie van de Eurofound-enquête, die in het voorjaar van 2022 werd gehouden, werpt ook licht op een nieuwe onzekere realiteit die het gevolg is van de oorlog in Oekraïne, de historisch hoge inflatie en sterk gestegen kosten van levensonderhoud.
Eurofound’s European Restructuring Monitor database reveals the impact of the energy crisis on employment in the EU. Following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, energy prices have hit record highs. The European Commission imposed sanctions and limitations on the import of oil and gas from Russia, which has reacted by reneging on supply commitments to many Member States. Compared to other countries, market disruption has been especially acute in the EU, given the bloc’s overdependence on Russian energy supply.
This study provides information allowing for an assessment of the representativeness of the actors involved in the European sectoral social dialogue committee for the electricity sector. Their relative representativeness legitimises their right to be consulted, their role and effective participation in the European sectoral social dialogue and their capacity to negotiate agreements.
In dit rapport wordt geanalyseerd wat de rol was van de sociale dialoog en collectieve onderhandelingen bij het aangaan van de uitdagingen waar de burgerluchtvaartsector tijdens de COVID-19-pandemie voor stond. De mate waarin de sociale partners werden betrokken bij de genomen maatregelen om de negatieve gevolgen van de pandemie te beperken, verschilt per Europees land. De sociale dialoog en collectieve onderhandelingen speelden in de meeste landen een prominente rol. In andere landen was hun rol beperkter.
In dit verslag wordt de rol geanalyseerd van de sociale dialoog en collectieve onderhandelingen bij het aanpakken van de uitdagingen die door de COVID-19-pandemie in de ziekenhuissector zijn ontstaan of zijn verergerd. Ook wordt onderzocht of de bestaande processen voor sociale dialoog en collectieve onderhandelingen op nationaal niveau zijn aangepast om deze nieuwe uitdagingen het hoofd te kunnen bieden.
Dit verslag werd opgesteld in het kader van het driejarig (2021-2023) proefproject “De rol van het minimuminkomen bij de vaststelling van de universele arbeidsgarantie”, dat door de Europese Commissie in opdracht is gegeven aan Eurofound. Het verslag is gericht op de derde module van het project: onderzoek naar minimumlonen en andere vormen van beloning voor zelfstandigen.
Als gevolg van de strenge gezondheidsmaatregelen die de overheid in 2020 heeft opgelegd om de COVID-19-pandemie het hoofd te bieden, is ons werkleven er plots helemaal anders gaan uitzien. De beperkingen hebben zich ook in de twee jaar daarna nog laten voelen. Tussen maart en november 2021 werden meer dan 70 000 gesprekken gevoerd in 36 landen in het kader van de telefonische Europese enquête naar de arbeidsomstandigheden (EWCS), een kwalitatief hoogstaande steekproefenquête.
Eurofound’s European Company Survey (ECS) maps and analyses company policies and practices which can have an impact on smart, sustainable and inclusive growth, as well as the development of social dialogue in companies. This series consists of outputs from the ECS 2009, the second edition of the survey. The survey was first carried out in 2004–2005 as the European Establishment Survey on Working Time and Work-Life Balance.
Eurofound’s European Company Survey (ECS) maps and analyses company policies and practices which can have an impact on smart, sustainable and inclusive growth, as well as the development of social dialogue in companies. This series consists of outputs from the ECS 2013, the third edition of the survey. The survey was first carried out in 2004–2005 as the European Establishment Survey on Working Time and Work-Life Balance.
Eurofound’s European Quality of Life Survey (EQLS) examines both the objective circumstances of European citizens' lives and how they feel about those circumstances and their lives in general. This series consists of outputs from the EQLS 2003, the first edition of the survey.
Eurofound's European Quality of Life Survey (EQLS) examines both the objective circumstances of European citizens' lives and how they feel about those circumstances and their lives in general. This series consists of outputs from the EQLS 2007, the second edition of the survey. The survey was first carried out in 2003.
Eurofound's European Quality of Life Survey (EQLS) examines both the objective circumstances of European citizens' lives and how they feel about those circumstances and their lives in general. This series consists of outputs from the EQLS 2012, the third edition of the survey. The survey was first carried out in 2003.
Eurofound’s European Working Conditions Survey (EWCS) paints a wide-ranging picture of Europe at work across countries, occupations, sectors and age groups. This series consists of findings from the EWCS 2005, the fourth edition of the survey. The survey was first carried out in 1990.
Eurofound’s European Working Conditions Survey (EWCS) paints a wide-ranging picture of Europe at work across countries, occupations, sectors and age groups. This series consists of findings from the EWCS 2010, the fifth edition of the survey. The survey was first carried out in 1990.
This publication series explores scenarios for the future of manufacturing. The employment implications (number of jobs by sector, occupation, wage profile, and task content) under various possible scenarios are examined. The scenarios focus on various possible developments in global trade and energy policies and technological progress and run to 2030.
In 2022, the European Semester was streamlined to integrate the Recovery and Resilience Facility (RRF) established on 19 February 2021 (Regulation (EU) 2021/241). While facing the geopolitical and economic challenges triggered by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, Member States have been implementing the national Recovery and Resilience Plans (RRPs) for more than one year and around 100 billion euro in RRF funds have already been disbursed.
This report explores the association between skills use and skills strategies and establishment performance, and how other workplace practices, in terms of work organisation, human resources management and employee involvement, can impact on this. It looks at how skills shortages can be addressed, at least in part, by creating an environment in which employees are facilitated and motivated to make better use of the skills they already have. This further supports the business case for a more holistic approach to management.
With the expansion of telework and different forms of hybrid work as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, it is important for policymakers to consider both the opportunities and the negative consequences that may result. This report will explore potential scenarios for such work. In doing so, it will identify trends and drivers, and predict how they might interact to create particular outcomes and how they are likely to affect workers and businesses. Policy pointers will outline what could be done to facilitate desirable outcomes and to avoid undesirable ones.
This paper provides an analytical summary of state of the art academic and policy literature on the impact of climate change and policies to manage transitions to a carbon neutral economy on employment, working conditions, social dialogue and living conditions. It maps the key empirical findings around the impact of climate change and the green transitions on jobs, sectors, regions and countries in Europe, identifying the opportunities and risks that climate change policies bring to European labour markets.
This report explores the drivers of economic and social convergence in Europe, using a selected set of economic and social indicators to examine trends in the performance of individual Member States. It also investigates what role the Economic and Monetary Union plays in convergence, particularly in southern and eastern Member States. The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on convergence is analysed and initial conclusions are drawn about the impact of EU recovery packages and their ability to prevent divergence.
As economies emerge from the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, labour shortages are becoming increasingly evident. These include shortages exacerbated by the crisis in some sectors and professions where they had been endemic for some time. This report will look at measures implemented at national level to tackle labour shortages in the health, care and information and communications technology sectors, as well as those arising from the twin digital and green transitions.
Adequate, affordable housing has become a matter of great concern, with an alarming number of Europeans with low or lower household incomes unable to access any, especially in capital cities. Housing was a key factor in people’s experience of the COVID-19 pandemic: its quality and level of safety significantly affected how lockdowns and social distancing measures were experienced, with those who had no access to quality housing at higher risk of deteriorating living conditions and well-being.
The COVID-19 pandemic triggered an extraordinary level of provision of social services across the EU. Healthcare and care providers carried much of the burden and, together with essential services, played a crucial role in getting citizens through the crisis. This report explores how public services adapted to the new reality and what role was played by the digital transformation of services. The aim is to contribute to the documentation and analysis of changes in funding, delivery and use of healthcare and social services during the pandemic.
The urban-rural divide in EU countries has grown in recent years, and the depopulation of certain rural areas in favour of cities is a challenge when it comes to promoting economic development and maintaining social cohesion and convergence. Using data from Eurofound and Eurostat, this report will investigate the trends and drivers of the urban-rural divide, in various dimensions: economic and employment opportunities, access to services, living conditions and quality of life.
Building on previous work by Eurofound, this report will investigate intergenerational dynamics over time. During the 2008 double-dip recession, worrying intergenerational divides appeared in many Member States, and while some of the economic and social impact of the COVID-19 pandemic is universal, early data suggests disparities across demographic cohorts. Eurofound will examine how different age groups may have been affected in terms of their health, labour market participation, quality of life and financial needs, both in the short term and in the long term.