Monday 18 December is International Migrants Day. In the following blog piece Eurofound Director Juan Menéndez-Valdés and Research Manager Klára Fóti look at new developments in migration policy and practice in the EU, and the need to build clear paths to the labour market for Europe’s new migrants.
While the youth labour market has improved considerably since 2014, one legacy of the recent economic crisis is the large cohort of long-term unemployed young people, which represents nearly one-third of jobless young people. This report provides an updated profile of the youth labour market in 2016 and describes trends over the past decade.
'Europe – a world-class place to live and work.' That is how President Juncker described Europe at the summit to formally proclaim the EU Pillar of Social Rights in Gothenburg last month. And he added: ‘Europe is more than just a single market, more than money … It is about our values and the way we want to live’. So how do we live? Do the 510 million Europeans across the current 28 Member States really feel that their living conditions are ‘world-class’?
In order to encourage the birth rate to rise in Romania, the government had abolished the ceiling on the child-rearing allowance. However, recently, in order to combat unfairness and align with European models, the government has recently moved to re-introduce the cap.
Pay increases are attracting intense interest among social partners and the public, with employers opposing the government’s decision to increase the statutory minimum wage in 2018. The largest trade union in Bulgaria, the CITUB, organised a major national protest in October in support of pay increases, demanding urgent political action to protect labour rights.
There is a significant gap between the pay of Croatian healthcare workers and those in the rest of the EU. In the last four years more than 500 physicians have left Croatia to work abroad. The sector is heavily in debt, rules for calculating salaries are complex, and the collective agreement is not applied consistently.
An agreement on reforms crucial to Lithuania’s economic growth was signed on 16 October after almost a year of discussions. The agreement, signed by Prime Minister Saulius Skvernelis and representatives of the social partners, identifies long-term objectives such as improving efficiency in the public sector, competitiveness and the quality of public services.
With people living longer, the need for affordable care of high quality to support Europe’s population increases. Over the last ten years there has been an expansion of the private sector in terms of the number of care homes and the places they provide. This increase takes place in a context of decrease or very slow growth in the services provided in public care homes. This report examines services in the public and private sectors, how they differ in the services they provide in terms of the quality, accessibility and efficiency of services.
Launch of the second phase consultation of social partners of the Written Statement Directive, social partners’ positions regarding aspects of the European Pillar of Social Rights , and President Juncker's State of the Union address are the main topics of interest in this article. This country update reports on the latest developments in working life at EU level in the third quarter of 2017.
Amendments to the Latvian labour law (from 16 August 2017) are expected to promote collective bargaining at sector and territorial levels and to strengthen the role of collective agreements, although they may be more favourable for employers than employees.
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 2003, the first edition of the survey.
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 2007, the second edition of the survey. The survey was first carried out in 2003.
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 2012, the third 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 2005, the fourth 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 2010, the fifth edition of the survey. The survey was first carried out in 1990.
This publication series explores scenarios for the future of manufacturing. The employment implications (number of jobs by sector, occupation, wage profile, and task content) under various possible scenarios are examined. The scenarios focus on various possible developments in global trade and energy policies and technological progress and run to 2030.
Automation and digitisation technologies, including artificial intelligence (AI), are undergoing a rapid evolution. This impacts working conditions in a variety of ways and raises a host of new ethical concerns. In recent times, the policy debate surrounding these concerns has become more prominent and has increasingly focused on AI. Key EU policy developments, especially in relation to AI, have shaped the policy debate in many EU Member States, and in some instances they have led to the adoption of new policy initiatives that address these concerns in the context of work and employment.
Every year, Eurofound compiles a report summarising the key developments in minimum wages across EU countries. The report explains how minimum wages are set and describes the role of social partners, covering the evolution of statutory rates, collectively agreed wages and the national debates on these issues.
As part of a process to collect information on essential services, the European Commission (DG EMPL) requested Eurofound to provide input on certain aspects of existing and planned measures in the Member States to improve access to essential services, in reference to Principle 20 of the European Pillar of Social Rights. The scope of the exercise included energy services, public transport and digital communications, and the focus was on people at risk of poverty or social exclusion (in practice, people on low incomes in most cases).
The civil aviation sector has been deeply impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic. It is one of the most severe crises the sector has ever experienced, giving rise to a number of significant challenges for companies and workers alike. This study will explore the role of social dialogue and collective bargaining in how the sector is adapting to the pandemic. What kinds of changes have been introduced, either through social dialogue or collective bargaining? Are the changes temporary or permanent?
This report investigates the practical implementation of the European Works Council (EWC) Directive at company level. It explores the challenges faced by existing EWCs and provides examples of identified solutions and remaining issues from the point of view of both workers and management. The report looks at the way that EWCs meet the requirements of the EWC Directive in terms of establishing processes of information and consultation.
This report will map the existing regulations on telework in European Union Member States, including in legislation and collective agreements. It will present the most recent changes to these regulations and shed light on how the future of (tele)work could be regulated at both national and EU level, in order to improve working conditions in telework arrangements and reduce the risks associated with telework and with specific ways of working remotely.
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.
The impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic have varied across sectors, occupations and categories of worker (for instance, according to gender, age or employment status). Hours worked have declined the most in sectors such as accommodation services and food and beverage services, and in occupations heavily reliant on in-person interaction, such as sales work. At the same time, it’s in these sectors that labour shortages have become increasingly evident as labour markets have begun to normalise.
This report focuses on trends and developments in collective bargaining that were evident from the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. It examines potential new strategic approaches and priorities incorporated in negotiation agendas, as well as collective bargaining practices and coordination at sector and company levels in the private sector.
This policy brief will provide an update on upward convergence in the economic, social and institutional dimensions of the European Union, as outlined in the European Pillar of Social Rights and its accompanying Social Scoreboard.
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