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Employment structure

The employment structure reflects the change in employment across occupations and sectors, using various proxies of job quality. The current debate about shifts in the employment structure is focused on the extent to which observed patterns of job polarisation and upgrading have contributed to wage inequality trends and on Europe's shrinking middle class.

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European Restructuring Monitor

Since 2002, the European Restructuring Monitor (ERM) has been monitoring the employment impact of large-scale restructuring events in Europe and covers the 27 EU Member States plus Norway.

Web page

Eurofound research

Eurofound’s European Jobs Monitor (EJM) analyses shifts in the employment structure in the EU, covering all Member States.

Read more about the EJM: Methodology, Key messages and Publications

Key outputs

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European Jobs Monitor (EJM)

The European Jobs Monitor (EJM) tracks structural change in European labour markets. It analyses shifts in the employment structure in the EU in terms of occupation and sector and gives...

Data Item

Eurofound expert(s)

John Hurley

John Hurley

John Hurley is a senior research manager in the Employment unit at Eurofound. He took up the role of research manager in February 2012. He is responsible for the European...

Senior research manager,
Employment research unit
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Carlos Vacas‑Soriano

Carlos Vacas Soriano is a research manager in the Employment unit at Eurofound. He works on topics related to wage and income inequalities, minimum wages, low pay, job quality...

Research manager,
Employment research unit
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Martina Bisello

​Martina Bisello is a research manager in the Employment unit at Eurofound. Her research interests include gender gaps in the labour market, occupational change and the impact of...

Research manager,
Employment research unit
Publications results (95)

ERM quarterly – Issue 3, autumn 2011

The economic situation continues to be dominated by sovereign debt problems in the eurozone countries. As these continue to remain unresolved, general sentiment has turned negative amid fears of a new second phase of the Great Recession of 2008–9. The third issue for 2011 includes: summary; current

23 October 2011
Publication
ERM Quarterly
Restructuring
Employment structure
Job creation
Employment and labour markets

Shifts in the job structure in Europe during the Great Recession: Technical background paper

The report describes the impact of the ‘great recession’ on employment and the job structure in the EU27. Quintile charts are used to give a simple, graphical representation of the extent of employment change in a given period as well as an indication of how that change has been distributed across

10 October 2011
Publication
Research report
Employment status
Job creation
Employment structure
Structural change
Employment and labour markets

ERM quarterly – Issue 2, summer 2011

The EU economy continued to grow over the last quarter with more positive data in particular from core economies.Problems of sovereign debt management however persist in several eurozone Member States and negative economic news from other developed economies has tended to more than mitigate any

07 August 2011
Publication
ERM Quarterly
Restructuring
Employment structure
Job creation
Employment and labour markets

ERM quarterly – Issue 1, spring 2011

Nearly two years after the technical end of the ‘Great Recession’, there are increasingly divergent patterns of recovery across the EU. Member States in the German – central Europe – Baltic axis are enjoying strong growth and improving labour markets while the debt-laden ‘periphery’ stagnates amidst

27 April 2011
Publication
ERM Quarterly
Restructuring
Employment structure
Job creation
Employment and labour markets

European restructuring monitor quarterly - Issue 3, autumn 2010

The pace of recovery following the 2008–9 economic crisis has picked up somewhat throughout 2010 with the EU forecast to register 1.7% growth in 2010. Uncertainty however persists on a number of fronts. Fears of a double dip recession in the US economy have been reinforced by recent weak employment

31 January 2011
Publication
ERM Quarterly
Job creation
Employment structure
Restructuring
Employment and labour markets

ERM quarterly – Issue 4, winter 2010

Sovereign debt issues dominated the agenda in the final quarter of 2010 as a second EU Member State, Ireland, required EU-IMF intervention in November to stave off default. Given similar concerns in other Member States, a focus on the health of the euro and on individual government deficits and

23 January 2011
Publication
ERM Quarterly
Restructuring
Employment structure
Job creation
Employment and labour markets

European restructuring monitor quarterly - Issue 2, summer 2010

Europe continues to show signs of a tentative recovery with marginally positive growth and other economic indicators stabilising. There are however persistent concerns over levels of public debt and, to a lesser extent, over the stability of the euro. The second issue for 2010 includes: current

30 August 2010
Publication
ERM Quarterly
Job creation
Employment structure
Restructuring
Employment and labour markets

European restructuring monitor quarterly - Issue 1, spring 2010

Though no longer in recession, the EU economy remains fragile, with growth well below trend rates. Unemployment continues to rise, though at a slowing pace (it stood at 9.6% in the EU27 in February 2010). The first issue for 2010 includes: current macroeconomic trends and prospects; an overview of

26 April 2010
Publication
ERM Quarterly
Job creation
Employment structure
Restructuring
Employment and labour markets

Current restructuring developments in local government - Background paper

This report uses recent findings from two observatories of the European Foundation for the Improvement and Living Conditions (Eurofound); the European Industrial Relations Observatory (EIRO) and the European Restructuring Monitor (ERM) – as well as Eurostat data, to examine trends in compensation

14 March 2010
Publication
Customised report
Pay and income
Structural change
Employment structure
Industrial action
Employment and labour markets
Industrial relations
Industrial relations and social dialogue

European restructuring monitor quarterly - Issue 4, winter 2009

The EU emerged from recession in the third quarter of 2009 but growth remains anaemic ( 0.3%, EU27) and well below trend rates. Unemployment notably continues to rise and its pace of increase has accelerated in the most recent quarter to reach the highest levels in over a decade (9.5%, EU27). The

01 March 2010
Publication
ERM Quarterly
Job creation
Employment structure
Restructuring
Employment and labour markets
Online resources results (2)

United Kingdom: Latest working life developments – Q2 2016

The outcome of the referendum on EU membership, the immediate impact of the vote to leave, the social partners’ reaction and the steel industry crisis are the main topics of interest in this article. This country update reports on the latest developments in working life in the UK in the first

4 Avgust 2016
Article
Social protection
Employment structure
Social partners
Employment and labour markets
Industrial relations
Industrial relations and social dialogue

Sweden: Reports focus on disabled people in the labour market

26 Marec 2015
Article
Labour market policies
Employment structure
Disability and chronic disease
Employment and labour markets
Social policies
Blogs results (12)
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The pandemic aggravated labour shortages in some sectors; the problem is now emerging in others

Following the declines in employment rates and working hours across Europe in 2020, economies began to show signs of recovery during the first quarter of 2021. The gradual rekindling of economic activity has led to a surge in demand for workers and reawakened concerns over labour shortages

20 Julij 2021
Dragoș Adăscăliței
Blog
Skills and training
Employment structure
European Pillar of Social Rights
Employment and labour markets
COVID-19
Labour market policies
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COVID-19: A tale of two service sectors

The employment fallout of COVID-19 has been a story of two types of service work. Office-based knowledge workers have largely kept their jobs and incomes while participating in the huge and apparently successful ad hoc social experiment in working from home. Client-facing service workers have borne

2 Februar 2021
John Hurley
Blog
COVID-19
Employment and labour markets
Employment structure
Gender equality
Unemployment
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Where are all the good jobs?

Economic disparities have been decreasing between EU member states over the past decade, but at the same time inequality has been growing within member states. Despite national level convergence, the gap in wealth and income between the rich and the poor is growing in most of Europe. Some of this

29 Oktober 2019
John Hurley
Blog
Employment structure
Labour market policies
Job creation
Job quality
Employment and labour markets
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The future of manufacturing – is it in Europe?

Over the past four years a special project delegated to Eurofound has looked in detail at ongoing changes in manufacturing on a global scale, analysed how the industry will change further in the future, and assessed what the impacts will be for Europe. Looking at everything from changes in tasks for

9 April 2019
Donald Storrie
Blog
Employment structure
Industrial policy
Job creation
Employment and labour markets
Restructuring
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Are blue-collar jobs turning white?

Manual jobs in European manufacturing are being transformed as blue-collar workers take on more intellectual tasks. This is a consequence of the increasing use of digital tools and the growing importance of quality control in production. The severe losses of middle-paying jobs in the manufacturing

27 September 2018
Martina Bisello
Blog
Digitalisation
Employment structure
Industrial policy
Job quality
Employment and labour markets
Work organisation
Anticipating and managing the impact of change
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Labour mobility in Europe during the Great Recession

The Great Recession had lasting effects on European labour markets, both in terms of employment levels and structure. Not only did employment rates drop significantly – taking years to return to pre-crisis levels, with some countries not fully recovered yet – but the crisis also accelerated

3 Avgust 2017
Martina Bisello
Blog
Employment structure
Inclusive labour markets
Employment and labour markets
Migration and mobility
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Employment shifts in Europe during the recovery: three little noticed trends

The EU has finally recovered all the net employment losses sustained since the global financial crisis. It has been a long and painful process. But there is at last growing evidence of positive momentum in EU labour markets, if not quite ‘animal spirits’. Many of those member states most affected by

26 Julij 2017
John Hurley
Blog
Employment structure
Gender equality
Job creation
Employment and labour markets
Non-standard employment
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Europe’s shrinking middle class

The Great Recession depressed real income levels across European countries. But the impact was very unequal across countries and income groups. Countries in the European periphery have been more affected than those in the core, halting the process of income convergence between European countries

23 Junij 2017
Carlos Vacas‑Soriano
Blog
Pay and income
Structural change
Employment structure
Inequality
Living conditions
Employment and labour markets
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EU income inequality and the Great Recession

EU-wide income inequality declined notably prior to 2008, driven by a strong process of income convergence between European countries. The Great Recession broke this trend. After 2008, income convergence has been sluggish, while inequality within many countries has increased significantly.

21 Marec 2017
Carlos Vacas‑Soriano
Blog
Employment structure
Inclusive labour markets
Inequality
Employment and labour markets
Living conditions
Pay and income
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Reducing Europe’s gender employment gap

One of the common values that unites the European Union is that of equal opportunities: all citizens should have the same possibility to improve their lives and participate in the labour market regardless of gender, ethnicity, religion or sexual orientation. Ensuring equal opportunities in finding

8 Marec 2017
Massimiliano Mascherini
Blog
Employment structure
Gender equality
Inclusive labour markets
Inequality
Employment and labour markets
Work-life balance
Working conditions and sustainable work
Upcoming publications results (1)

Regional employment change and the geography of telework in Europe

This report investigates regional employment dynamics in Europe before and during the COVID-19 pandemic, as well as the subsequent recovery from the crisis. Almost 90% of regions across the EU had exceeded their pre-pandemic employment levels by 2022. However, significant regional disparities in emp

August 2024
Forthcoming
Publication
Research report
Employment and labour markets
Employment structure
Digitalisation
Teleworking
COVID-19

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