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Labour market policies

To improve the functioning of labour markets, policymakers need to address labour market mismatches, labour market segmentation, and design employment policies geared towards the integration of specific groups into the labour market. Active labour market policies (ALMP) are public interventions which are explicitly targeted at groups of persons with difficulties in the labour market. These policies include Public Employment Services or other publicly funded services for jobseekers. Active support to employment is included in the European Pillar of Social Rights.
 

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Eurofound research

Explore Eurofound's regularly updated EU PolicyWatch database of measures introduced by governments and social partners in the EU 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. 

Database: EU PolicyWatch

Recent updates

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From July to December 2023, Eurofound supported the work of Spain's presidency of the Council of the EU, providing valuable research results on specific topics linked with the presidency priorities.

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Eurofound expert(s)

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
Publications results (148)

Labour market slack is the shortfall between the volume of work desired by workers and the actual volume of work available. The most important indicator of labour slack is the unemployment rate, but an exclusive focus on this fails to take account of the four-fifths of the jobless population who are

18 July 2017

The 2016 annual report from the European Restructuring Monitor (ERM) provides evidence of the employment impact of recent restructuring activity in Europe based on the European Union Labour Force Survey (EU-LFS) and the ERM events database. The thematic part of this year’s report centres on trends

01 February 2017

Reducing labour taxes or offering incentives to hire new workers could motivate employers to either retain staff who might otherwise have been let go or to create new jobs. Since the onset of the financial crisis in 2008, both types of measure have been deployed in many EU Member States.

30 January 2017

This report expands on existing research on the labour market integration of refugees and asylum seekers as a response to the refugee crisis. It updates information on legislation and practical arrangements in the first half of 2016, examines labour market integration in the broader context of

14 December 2016

Although standard employment is still dominant in European labour markets, an increasing range of new employment forms is emerging that differ in their implications for working conditions. This study explores strategic employee sharing, an employment form for companies that have specific HR needs

21 November 2016

The European Jobs Monitor 2016 looks at 2011 Q2–2015 Q2 employment shifts at Member State and aggregate EU level. A ‘jobs-based’ approach is used to describe employment shifts quantitatively (how many jobs were created or destroyed) and qualitatively (what kinds of jobs). It also introduces a new

20 June 2016

This report explores the involvement of peak social partners in the European Semester at EU and national level during the period 2011 to 2014. While their role in the European Semester is not set out in the European economic governance provisions (the so-called ‘Six-Pack’), the European

16 February 2016

Throughout Europe families have felt the effects of the economic crisis that began in 2008. This report describes their experience in the aftermath of the crisis, up to the present. It looks in detail at developments in 10 Member States that were selected to represent different types of family

27 January 2016

Temporary employment has increased since the 1980s in most European countries as a result of demands for greater flexibility in labour markets and subsequent reforms of employment protection legislation. This report presents a broad picture of temporary employment across the EU27 between 2001 and

15 December 2015

This report describes the findings of a study of change in job tenure between 2002 and 2012 in the EU. The study examined change in mean tenure as well as the distribution of short and long tenure in the EU and in individual Member States. It also looked at differences in tenure according to

15 July 2015

Online resources results (199)

France: Occupational personal accounts planned for 2017

In the framework of its labour market reform, the government is proposing new legislation aimed at creating an individual occupational account for each employee, offering entitlement to a range of social benefits throughout their career. Details were discussed at a high-level conference of the

Portugal: Immigrants bear brunt of rising unemployment

Immigrants are among the groups particularly affected by rising unemployment and deteriorating working conditions in Portugal. A recent study has looked at how three main groups of immigrants, from Brazil, Cape Verde and Ukraine, access the country's labour market. It also analyses their specific

Italy: Economically dependent self-employed work in the Jobs Act

Labour law reforms under the Jobs Act have dispensed with new job contracts based on one or more specific projects. From 2016, this type of contract will be assimilated into another type of employment contract. Workers whose contracts are expiring are entitled to receive an income support measure

Slovakia: Employment continues to grow

Employment increased steadily in Slovakia during 2014, particularly in the manufacturing and services sectors.

Hungary: Closure of national employment office

Hungary’s National Labour Office (NMH) was abolished in January 2015 by the government as part of radical changes to the Hungarian Public Employment Service. The Government said the NMH, which managed the service, was not building an effective bridge between employers and job seekers. The social

Lithuania: New forms of traineeships introduced

After lengthy discussions, the Lithuanian government has amended employment law to help young people to improve their skills, and has changed the rules on voluntary internship agreements. Both measures cover people aged under 29. Although there is no assessment yet of their success, the measures are

Portugal: Rejection of austerity measures in public sector

In 2014, Portugal's Constitutional Court ruled that a number of the coalition government's austerity measures were unconstitutional. The government’s response was a new austerity package that extended the possibility of wage cuts to 2018 and included permanent cuts to public pensions. The


Blogs results (10)
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The European Commission declared 2023 as the European Year of Skills, stating ‘Helping people get the right skills for quality jobs and helping companies, in particular small and medium enterprises, address skills shortages in the EU is what this year is all about.’

27 mars 2023
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We need to study and understand the blow Europe’s youth have suffered from the COVID-19 pandemic, in order to adjust recovery and resilience measures to their needs: without prioritising young people in the present, we have little hope for the future.

3 december 2021
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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 juli 2021
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Decision-makers approached minimum wage setting for 2021 cautiously due to the economic uncertainty caused by the pandemic. Despite this, nominal statutory minimum wages rose in most Member States and the UK, although at lower rates than in recent years.

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​​​​​​​To date, close to six million workers in the EU have lost their jobs due to COVID-19. Many businesses have closed their doors forever or been pushed to the brink, bringing severe financial and psychological hardship to the individuals and families affected. However, the toll of the pandemic

9 februari 2021
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On 2 April, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen announced a new fund of up to €100 billion to support EU Member States to introduce short-time working or similar schemes, including for the self-employed, in an effort to safeguard jobs during the COVID-19 pandemic. Known as SURE

5 maj 2020
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At the very outset of its mandate, the new European Commission presented the European Green Deal, establishing the objective of becoming the first climate-neutral bloc in the world by 2050. The initiative emphasises the seriousness which the European Commission places on the climate and biodiversity

21 februari 2020
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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
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Unemployment in the EU is continuing to fall, with the rate approaching its 2008 low point. This is good news: the Europe 2020 target of 75% employment in the working age population is now in sight for many Member States. However, as unemployment reaches new lows, the opposite problem is emerging –

19 november 2018
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In the abstract, platform work is the matching of supply and demand for paid work through an online platform. In practice, most people are likely to have encountered it through big online platforms such as Uber, Deliveroo or Amazon Mechanical Turk. This is a new form employment that began to emerge

2 november 2018
Upcoming publications results (2)

This report provides updated data on the scale of labour shortages and labour market slack in the EU and at Member State level and focusses on organisational policies aimed at attracting workers in shortage occupations. It provides lessons on steps employers can take to fill vacancies, whether actin

September 2024
Forthcoming
Publication
Research report

Job retention schemes were the main policy instruments used across the EU during the COVID-19 pandemic to preserve employment and support businesses. The report provides an analysis of job retention schemes in the EU, focusing on their institutional characteristics, their impact on employment levels

September 2024
Forthcoming
Publication
Research report

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