The Foundation offers a wide variety of online information sources on the subject of industrial restructuring. This leaflet outlines different facets of restructuring and provides links to a large body of relevant Foundation work on this important subject. Industrial restructuring is a striking feature of the economic landscape in Europe today. Whatever the approach, restructuring represents an attempt at managing and anticipating change, simultaneously tackling issues of economic, social and environmental significance.
In May 2003, a /methods agreement/ was signed between trade unions and
management at GIAT Industries, the French arms manufacturer. The agreement
sets out a procedure and timetable for consultations over a major
restructuring plan involving large-scale job losses which the company
announced in April. In line with this procedure, a draft 'company contract',
outlining the state's commitments and GIAT's plans for the 2003-8 period, was
presented in June and criticised by the unions.
A reform of France's /UNEDIC/ unemployment insurance scheme agreed by
employers' organisations and three trade union confederations in December
2002 will substantially restrict unemployment benefit entitlements when new
eligibility rules come into force on 1 January 2004. In mid-2003, UNEDIC
issued figures indicating that cuts in entitlement will affect between
610,000 and 860,000 people currently in receipt of benefit. These figures
have fuelled new criticism from the union confederations (CGT and CGT-FO),
which did not sign the reform agreement.
In summer 2003, attempts are continuing to redeploy the 3,200 employees of
the French airline, Air Lib, which went into liquidation in February.
Meanwhile, the legal authorities and parliament have both been conducting
investigations into the circumstances surrounding the takeover and subsequent
bankruptcy of the company .
This information sheet offers a brief overview of the Foundation's new research project in the living conditions sphere. The Foundation launched a new pan-European ‘quality of life’ survey in May 2003. This project will provide new information and analysis on living conditions and quality of life issues throughout the 28 countries of the EU and its candidate countries. The first results, to be presented at the end of 2003, will draw on the survey’s findings, together with existing information from a database of comparable EU-wide data.
In May 2003, all companies in the Luxembourg finance sector were asked to
adopt a set of guidelines on tackling sexual harassment and to distribute
them to their workforces. This initiative was launched by organisations
representing the sector's employers, personnel managers and occupational
health services, and includes the creation of a panel of external
confidential advisers to whom employees can refer cases of sexual harassment.
Slovakia is one of the EU candidate countries that have asked for support
within the framework of the EU's PHARE [1] programme in the reinforcement of
social dialogue and collective bargaining at all relevant levels and in the
implementation of relevant EU Directives into national legislation. Thus, in
2001, representatives from Slovakia, the Netherlands and the UK concluded a
'twinning' covenant for PHARE project SR 0006.01. The twinning involves Dutch
and British experts from governments, employers' organisations and trade
unions transmitting their knowledge and experience to their Slovak
colleagues. The project aims to achieve the following results:
In June 2003, the Portuguese government submitted a draft 'Social contract
for competitiveness and employment' to the social partners, aimed at
achieving convergence with average EU levels of productivity and purchasing
power, combating tax fraud and evasion, and increasing competitiveness. The
government wants employers and trade unions to agree to pay moderation and
biannual wage bargaining, along with investment in innovation and training
and a review of company taxation.
In late 2000, the Swedish government set up a governmental working time
committee (Kommittén för nya arbetstids- och semesterregler, KNAS), with
social partner involvement, to examine the entire system of legislation on
working time and leave and make proposals for reform (SE0101176N [1]). In
June 2002, the committee issued a report (/SOU 2002:58/) proposing new
legislation to give all workers an additional five days of leave per year
(SE0206105F [2]). On 17 June 2003, it presented its final report (SOU 2003:54
[3]), calling for a simplification of current rules on annual and other forms
of leave for employees.
In June 2003, Telefónica de España - the Spanish fixed telephony business
of the Telefónica group - announced plans for a workforce reduction of
around 11% in the short term, in order to deal with market difficulties and
improve competitiveness. Negotiations are due to start on a redundancy
procedure with trade unions.
This series reports on the new forms of employment emerging across Europe that are driven by societal, economic and technological developments and are different from traditional standard or non-standard employment in a number of ways. This series explores what characterises these new employment forms and what implications they have for working conditions and the labour market.
The European Company Survey (ECS) is carried out every four to five years since its inception in 2004–2005, with the latest edition in 2019. The survey is designed to provide information on workplace practices to develop and evaluate socioeconomic policy in the EU. It covers issues around work organisation, working time arrangements and work–life balance, flexibility, workplace innovation, employee involvement, human resource management, social dialogue, and most recently also skills use, skills strategies and digitalisation.
The European Quality of Life Survey (EQLS) is carried out every four to five years since its inception in 2003, with the latest edition in 2016. It examines both the objective circumstances of people's lives and how they feel about those circumstances and their lives in general. It covers issues around employment, income, education, housing, family, health and work–life balance. It also looks at subjective topics, such as people's levels of happiness and life satisfaction, and perceptions of the quality of society.
This series brings together publications and other outputs of the European Jobs Monitor (EJM), which tracks structural change in European labour markets. The EJM analyses shifts in the employment structure in the EU in terms of occupation and sector and gives a qualitative assessment of these shifts using various proxies of job quality – wages, skill-levels, etc.
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 2016, the fourth 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 2015, the sixth 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 1996, the second 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 2001, which was an extension of the EWCS 2000 to cover the then 12 acceding and candidate countries. 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 2000, the third edition of the survey. The survey was first carried out in 1990.
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 first edition of the survey carried out in 2004–2005 under the name European Establishment Survey on Working Time and Work-Life Balance.
This study provides information allowing for an assessment of the representativeness of the actors involved in the European sectoral social dialogue committee for the textiles and clothing 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. The aim of this Eurofound study on representativeness is to identify the relevant national and European social partner organisations in the textiles and clothing sector in the EU Member States.
This report presents Eurofound’s research on telework during the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020 and 2021. It explores changes in the incidence of telework, working conditions experienced by employees working from home and changes to regulations addressing issues related to this working arrangement. The findings reveal a rapid escalation of telework triggered by the pandemic: in 2021, 2 out of 10 European employees were teleworking – a figure that most likely would not have been reached before 2027 had the pandemic not occurred.
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 study provides information allowing for an assessment of the representativeness of the actors involved in the European sectoral social dialogue committee for the textiles and clothing 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.
This study provides information allowing for an assessment of the representativeness of the actors involved in the European sectoral social dialogue committee for the civil aviation 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.
This study provides information allowing for an assessment of the representativeness of the actors involved in the European sectoral social dialogue committee for the civil aviation 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. The aim of this Eurofound study on representativeness is to identify the relevant national and European social partner organisations in the civil aviation sector in the EU Member States.
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.
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.
This study provides information allowing for an assessment of the representativeness of the actors involved in the European sectoral social dialogue committee for the professional football 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. The aim of this Eurofound’s study on representativeness is to identify the relevant national and European social partner organisations in the professional football sector in the EU Member States.
The COVID-19 crisis has increased inequality between social groups in health, housing, employment, income and well-being. While a small part of society was able to hold on to or increase its wealth, other groups such as women, young people, older people, people with disabilities, low- and middle-income earners and those with young children were acutely affected by the pandemic. Drawing on current research on how to best measure multidimensional inequality, this report highlights recent trends in inequality in the context of the COVID-19 crisis.
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