Eurofound

The ageing of European society is leading to a situation where, at current employment levels, supporting the retired population will become increasingly unaffordable. The proposed solution can be summed up simply: bring more of the wor...

Created in 1975, the European Foundation for the Improvement of Living and Working Conditions (Eurofound) was set up to contribute to the planning and establishment of better living and working conditions through action designed to increase and disseminate knowledge likely to assist this development.

The year 2015 marks the third year of implementation of Eurofound’s four-year work programme 2013–2016, From crisis to recovery: Better informed policies for a competitive and fair Europe. The multiannual strategy laid down in the four-year programme provides Eurofound with a clear framework for the development of its annual programmes. The programme describes the policy context in which the Agency operates and defines the mission of the organisation and its core areas of expertise. It identifies four policy priority areas where Eurofound will provide high-quality, timely and policy-relevant knowledge as input to better informed policies. This is the Agency’s strategic objective for the 2013–2016 period.

This issue contains articles on: Findings in figures; Joint conference promotes social cohesion; Spotlight on mobility in the EU; News in brief; and Publications.

In order to develop effective and focused strategies to uphold social cohesion and improve happiness and quality of life in Europe, it is above all necessary to understand how complex social developments interact with each other. In particular since – as this study amply demonstrates – the different circumstances in the individual EU Member States demand flexible measures that can be adapted to each specific situation.This policy brief examines how significant social cohesion is for the well-being of people in Europe.

This report gives an overview of working conditions, job quality, workers’ health and job sustainability in the industrial cleaning sector (NACE 81). The findings are based mostly on the fifth European Working Conditions Survey (EWCS)...

This issue contains articles on: Findings in figures; Agencies join forces on employee well-being; Spotlight on urban-rural differences; News in brief; and Publications.

Recent data has cast doubt on the strength of the recovery. In its October 2014 World Economic Outlook, the IMF predicts a euro zone growth rate of 0.8% in 2014 (down from a forecast growth rate of 1.1% in April 2014). Factors contributing to the poorer outlook are slowdowns in the US, Japan and in the two biggest EU economies – Germany and France – as well as increased geopolitical risks arising from events in Ukraine, Syria and the wider Arab world.

Acknowledging the complexity of the relationship between health and work, the report presents comparative information on the prevalence of psychosocial risks among workers and examines the associations between these risks and health and well-being. It also looks at the extent to which establishments take action to tackle psychosocial risks and describes interventions that can be adopted in companies. An overview of policies in six Member States is included.

This issue contains articles on: Findings in figures; Lower-skilled occupations face disadvantages; Involving employees key to innovation; News in brief; and Publications.