European Working Conditions Survey 2020

On 3 February 2020, Eurofound began the fieldwork for the newest edition of its landmark European Working Conditions Survey (EWCS).

This is the seventh time that the survey is being carried out, and it is being further expanded to include approximately 45,000 workers in 37 European countries. This includes the EU Member States, United Kingdom, Norway, Switzerland, Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kosovo, Montenegro, North Macedonia, Serbia and Turkey. 

Respondents will be surveyed on different aspects of their working life, such as working time, work organisation, work–life balance and work-related health issues. This survey will provide invaluable, up-to-date and objective data to policymakers and researchers on working conditions and the quality of work and employment in Europe – to help improve working lives for all people at work.

Eurofound is an EU Agency focused on how people across Europe live and work, and how this is changing over time. Every five years it runs this survey to look at people’s working conditions and quality of employment. Each survey gives an up-to-date snapshot of the world of work and shows how much, and in what way, things have changed. New questions this time will address the ‘future of work’. This seventh wave of the survey is an important landmark for Eurofound, building as it does on the lessons learned from the previous six surveys and illuminating the rich tapestry of workplace trends in Europe over the last 30 years.

Eurofound would appreciate if those approached by members of Ipsos’ network could find 45 minutes to complete this important face-to-face survey, which is likely to shape policy responses to Europe’s changing work environment for years to come. The EWCS results will be specifically used to monitor progress and challenges in job quality; analyse the performance of employment policy; identify groups at risk and issues of concern as well as progress made; and, contribute to new policies for people at work.

People who are contacted are chosen at random. Interviews will be face to face at home. Any answers or information given are treated in the strictest confidence and the anonymity of each interviewee is guaranteed. All the data collected will be used for research purposes only and will be stored securely, with limited access. It is vitally important that as many people respond to the survey as possible so that its results are reliable. The first survey results will be published in 2021.

Eurofound looks forward to getting your perspective; together we can provide the information needed to improve the working conditions of people throughout Europe.

• Ipsos: Information on data protection and privacy for the Seventh European Working Conditions Survey

For further details about the survey, please contact Sophia MacGoris (Tel: +353 1 204 3100, email smg@eurofound.europa.eu) from Eurofound