Labour market policies

Eurofound monitors structural changes in the labour market via its European Jobs Monitor (EJM) and European Restructuring Monitor (ERM), including the overview of legal instruments. Research investigates labour market dynamics, company practices, restructuring, and social partner involvement in addressing the policy-driven green transition, the advancing technological change and a global reconfiguration of supply chains. It aims to provide evidence to inform the understanding of the EU’s competitiveness and reinforce socioeconomic resilience.

This evidence on structural change in the labour market helps to inform labour market policies and industrial policy initiatives, offering knowledge on potential upgrading or polarisation of jobs, on how task requirements in jobs are changing, and on whether shifts in the employment structure are accelerating or slowing.

Investigating new forms of work, including digitally enabled such as platform work and ICT-based mobile work, helps to assess their prevalence over time, and how the opportunities or risks they create affect the employment and labour market prospects for people involved. Eurofound continues to update its Platform Economy Repository with information concerning the developments and regulation of employment in this type of economic activity.

The EU PolicyWatch database captures the measures introduced by governments and social partners in the Member States to alleviate the effects on businesses, workers and citizens of recent crises – COVID-19, the war in Ukraine and rising inflation. It also lists policies to support the digital and green transitions, as well companies that need to restructure. 

Article 4 of the European Pillar of Social Rights focuses on active support to employment. This supports the right to timely and tailor-made assistance to improve employment or self-employment prospects, the right of young people to continued education, apprenticeship, traineeship or a job offer within four months of becoming unemployed or leaving education via the Youth Guarantee, as well as the right of unemployed people to personalised, continuous and consistent support. In 2021, the European Commission issued a Recommendation for Effective Support to Employment.

• European Commission: Commission Recommendation for Effective Active Support to Employment (EASE)

In recent years, labour shortages have increasingly been the main factor affecting labour markets in the EU and beyond. In the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic the prevalence of labour shortages has become a key concern for governments and social partners alike. Key drivers of labour shortages include demographic change, job quality and the green and digital transition.

In March 2024, the European Commission presented an action plan to tackle labour and skills shortages, setting out key measures that the EU, Member States and social partners should take to reach its 2030 targets on skills and employment.

• European Commission: Commission sets out actions to tackle labour and skills shortages