This survey provides the opportunity for all users of Eurofound services, be they publications, events or the website, to provide their opinion about Eurofound and its work. The feedback will directly feed into Eurofound’s efforts to further improve its products with the aim of increasing the relevance and utility of the Agency’s work.

This report provides an analysis of European societies in terms of social cohesion – in particular, social tensions, perceived social exclusion and community engagement are explored as key dimensions. It analyses the links between societal characteristics (quality of society) and well-being of different social groups. The analysis looks at how perceived levels of societal tensions have changed in European societies over time (2003–2016). It also examines which dimensions of social cohesion are most important for individual well-being. The report is based on data from Eurofound’s European Quality of Life Survey 2016, the fourth survey since 2003.

​Eurofound’s European Working Conditions Survey (EWCS) paints a wide-ranging picture of Europe at work across countries, occupations, sectors and age groups. Its findings highlight actions for policy actors to help them address the challenges facing Europe today. In 2015, Eurofound carried out its sixth survey in the series (in operation since 1991). This sixth survey interviewed nearly 44,000 workers in 35 countries. Its findings provide detailed information on a broad range of issues, including exposure to physical and psychosocial risks, work organisation, work–life balance, and health and well-being.

Following the publication of the Sixth European Working Conditions Survey – Overview report in November 2016, a number of reports on specific themes and drawing on the EWCS data were commissionned and published in 2017 and 2018.

Background

This research on apprenticeships in manufacturing and advanced manufacturing is carried out in response to the increasing interest of EU and national policy makers in apprenticeships as a way to tackle the generally high levels of youth unemployment and to integrate young people into the labour market. It is, however, essential to ensure that any initiatives undertaken in relation to apprenticeships correspond to the needs of the labour market and the ways in which new technologies are transforming the work organisation and production processes across all sectors, particularly manufacturing.  The countries in focus in this research are five EU Member States (Denmark, France, Germany, Italy and Ireland) and two non-EU countries (Australia and the USA). These countries were selected for the importance of advanced and high-tech manufacturing for the national economy and the labour market and for the prominent role of apprenticeships within the VET system.