Stand with Ukraine

In its role to provide knowledge to assist in the development of better social, employment and work-related policies that will lead to a strong social Europe, Eurofound will adapt and expand its current four-year work programme to explore and respond to issues emerging from the war in Ukraine. The Agency will seek to provide adequate and timely analysis to its stakeholders, policymakers and to the larger public, using existing Eurofound data collection instruments and monitoring tools, as well as its wide range of research tools.

Efforts to expand and refocus data collection and monitoring tools

Eurofound’s data collection instruments and monitoring tools have been adjusted to collect evidence to inform the policy responses that will be necessary to support the integration of refugees and displaced persons from Ukraine and prevent the risk of recession resulting from the economic impact of the Ukraine crisis. These are outlined below.

Data sources collecting early information and first results

• Network of Eurofound Correspondents: Reporting on national measures to accommodate refugees from Ukraine, counter inflation and supply problems within the EU PolicyWatch database. New categories have been created to classify measures such as direct support for refugees, companies, workers and citizens
• European Restructuring Monitor: Recording new restructuring cases as a result of the war in Ukraine. Read our first article on the impact of the war in Ukraine on employment changes in the EU:
  • Article: First impacts of the Ukrainian crisis on employment in the EU
• Living, working and COVID-19 e-survey: Round 5 carried out in March–May 2022 included additional questions focusing on the engagement of citizens and their opinion about their government’s response to the crisis. First results will be published on 7 July 2022.

Adaptation of research projects

Eurofound will adapt a range of projects currently underway or planned for 2022/2023 to cover the turn of events of recent months and into the future. Topics will include:

• Psychosocial risks: The 2023 report will also cover post-war trauma analysis
• Working life annual update for 2022 will cover the effects of the war in Ukraine on working life in the Member States
• Affordable and adequate homes, including analysis on energy consumption amid rising prices
• Impact of the transition to a carbon-neutral economy on employment and its effect on overall job quality, which considers the effects of gas/oil shortages and increasing energy prices when developing scenarios
• Platform economy, including updates to the online repository on the role of platforms to create work for refugees/migrants, with a particular focus on migrants from Ukraine
• Minimum wage annual review: data collection on developments impacting minimum wage rates in 2023 will investigate how inflation is reflected in minimum wage increases
• Regional perspective on labour market change following the COVID-19 pandemic, with an additional focus on countries and regions receiving a large number of refugees from Ukraine
• Company practices to tackle labour shortages, including corporate initiatives to integrate migrants from Ukraine
• Social impact of migration, to include labour market and access to social services, equal treatment of refugees, volunteering and public support
• Income inequalities and the middle class, to also examine expected effects of inflation and slower growth