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Working conditions and sustainable work

Working conditions and sustainable work is one of Eurofound's main operational activities for its 2025–2028 programme. Building on the past 50 years of research, Eurofound continues to operate as a centre of expertise for monitoring and analysing developments in this area arising from the opportunities and challenges from four mega-drivers: demographic change, climate change, technological change and re-globalisation.

Drawing on its latest survey data, Eurofound provides comparative data and unique insights into trends in the development of working conditions and job quality across the EU Member States, aiming to promote sustainability of work over the life course in a labour market characterised by transformative changes.

Topic

Recent updates

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This episode examines the evolving landscape of European working conditions, situated at the nexus of profound technological transformation. The discussion assesses how artificial intelligence and digitalisation are reshaping employment, drawing...

Podcast
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As the continent's birth rates decline and its population ages, policymakers face the urgent task of retaining experienced workers and adapting workplaces to meet the needs of an older demographic.

Blog
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Living and working in Europe 2024 provides a snapshot of Eurofound’s key research findings on the changing nature of work and life across the EU. Labour and skills shortages continued...

8 Květen 2025
Publication
Annual report

Eurofound research 2025

During 2025, analysing the data collected in 2024 by the European Working Conditions Survey (EWCS) is the main focus in the area of working conditions and sustainable work.

The high-quality EWCS 2024 data form the starting point for investigating – from the perspective of working conditions and job quality – the challenges arising from the combined impact of the four mega-drivers. This work is complemented by evidence on measures designed to address these challenges and improve working conditions. Such measures stem from public policies and legislation, the intervention of the social partners and practices at workplace level.

Topics of research include:

  • Hybrid work: The hybrid workplace in the post-COVID-19 era and the challenges it poses for managers
  • Working time: Developments in the aftermath of the pandemic
  • Digital transition, job quality and workplace practices, including workers’ involvement in SMEs
  • Vulnerable workers: Addressing the employment and working conditions of this group
  • Platform work: Working conditions of online platform workers
  • Telework and remote work: Impact on labour market access and on working conditions
  • Artificial intelligence: Investigating the implications of AI and AI-enabling technologies for work organisation, employment, working conditions and social dialogue
  • New forms of work: Impact of digitalisation on labour market trends and working conditions
  • Sectoral and occupational change: Assessing the impact of the mega-drivers in selected sectors
  • Caring for care services: Looking at working conditions and job quality in care services

The EWCS 2024 analysis explores the multiple dimensions of job quality and compares the situation in the Member States for different sectors, occupations and age groups and by gender.

What our experts say

 Barbara Gerstenberger, Head of the Working Life Unit

Listen to our podcasts on issues around working conditions and sustainable work

Eurofound Talks - A podcast series

Linking in with EU priorities

2025 marks the first year of the five-year period of the EU policy and legislative cycle for 2025–2029. Eurofound's work plan is aligned with the EU’s political guidelines over the next four years, directly feeding into a number of key policy areas aimed at improving job quality and creating inclusive labour markets.

Preserving and creating new jobs remains a priority for the EU. Eurofound’s EWCS 2024 provides comparative data on and unique insights into trends in the development of working conditions and job quality across the EU. This research helps policymakers to deliver on the promise of leaving no one behind when it comes to equal opportunities and access to the labour market, fair working conditions, and social protection and inclusion.

Analysis of working conditions in specific sectors, such as the care sector or sectors and occupations particularly affected by the twin transition, aims to assist decision-makers, including company-level actors, to take job quality into account when addressing labour shortages and changing skills requirements.

Evidence on the working conditions of workers in new forms of work aims to assist policymakers in understanding the specifics of this issue and offer recommendations for appropriate solutions for instance regarding working time regulation, remote work or the right to disconnect.

Research on the impact of technological change, and specifically the use of AI in the workplace, provides evidence to inform initiatives to regulate the use of AI in the workplace.

Eurofound’s work also informs policies that strive to reduce inequalities between and within countries, regions and local areas with the aim of fostering upward convergence.

Key outputs

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Living and working in Europe 2024 provides a snapshot of Eurofound’s key research findings on the changing nature of work and life across the EU. Labour and skills shortages continued...

8 Květen 2025
Publication
Annual report
Publications results (573)

In most EU Member States, reviews of the statutory minimum wage rates spark a great deal of public interest. Such reviews affect the wider workforce, beyond those workers on the statutory minimum wage. Pay rates in collective agreements may be adapted in response to an increase in the minimum wage

04 June 2019

Living and working in Europe 2015–2018 brings together Eurofound’s work on the quality of life, work and employment of EU citizens over the last four years of the outgoing European Parliament and Commission. It has a been a period of economic expansion, growing employment and rising living standards

20 May 2019

This report uses European Working Conditions Survey data to examine working conditions and their implications for worker’s health. Ensuring the sustainability of work in the context of ageing populations implies a greater number of people in employment who can remain in the workforce for longer. The

13 May 2019

Job quality is a major focus of policymakers around the world. For workers, the enterprises that employ them and for societies, there are benefits associated with high-quality jobs, and costs associated with poor-quality jobs. This report – the result of a pioneering project by the International

06 May 2019

This report addresses the rarely discussed issue of rest breaks at work across the European Union. Based on input from the Network of Eurofound Correspondents, it reveals some of the complexities involved in defining whether such breaks should be paid or unpaid, how long they should be and where

01 May 2019

Seniority systems – schemes that allot improving employment rights or benefits to employees as their length of employment increases – have not been widely studied. This report provides the first comprehensive study comparing the design and spread of seniority-based entitlements (SBEs) in Europe and

17 April 2019

In the context of ongoing negotiations at EU level on adopting a work–life balance package for families and caregivers, Eurofound was requested by the European Commission to provide an update of the available data regarding paternity and parental leave for fathers. This report presents the currently

07 February 2019

In the wake of an economic crisis that had a very uneven impact on social outcomes across EU Member States, EU leaders and policymakers have come to acknowledge that to make social Europe a reality, social convergence must be given an equal footing to economic convergence in policymaking. In this

17 December 2018

How to combine work with life is a fundamental issue for many people, an issue that policymakers, social partners, businesses and individuals are seeking to resolve. Simultaneously, new challenges and solutions are transforming the interface between work and life: an ageing population, technological

14 December 2018

This report examines the issues in relation to ‘work on demand’, a topic that has received considerable attention in the media recently, mainly due to its links with the platform economy. Work on demand is often presented as a ‘win–win situation’: workers get to tailor their work according to their

14 December 2018

Online resources results (1781)

This episode examines the evolving landscape of European working conditions, situated at the nexus of profound technological transformation. The discussion assesses how artificial intelligence and digitalisation are reshaping employment, drawing parallels with historical industrial shifts, while ack

30 Červen 2025

Mary McCaughey speaks with Eurofound researchers Agnès Parent-Thirion, Tina Weber and Jorge Cabrita about how climate change is influencing working conditions and the labour market in Europe, the role of the green transition, and how policy can help protect workers and safeguard workplaces.

16 Říjen 2024

Human–robot interaction: What changes in the workplace?

Explore our digital report summary. Understanding how workers and robots interact and the implications for work organisation and working conditions is crucial for robots’ successful integration into the workplace.

In this episode of Eurofound Talks Mary McCaughey speaks with Eurofound Research Manager Tina Weber about new research on the right to disconnect, the evolution of the right to disconnect in Europe, the reasons why legislative and procedural actions are being called for, the impacts that effective

15 Duben 2024

Flexible work increases post-pandemic, but not for everyone

Even before the outbreak of COVID-19, various forms of flexible work, such as teleworking and flexitime, were in place across EU Member States. However, the pandemic led to a surge in flexible working practices with many workers wanting to focus on their work–life balance and have more time for

Eurofound presentation to the European Parliament Committee on Employment and Social Affairs (EMPL), Ivailo Kalfin, Executive Director, Eurofound, 24 January 2023.

23 Leden 2023

The rise in cost of living and energy poverty: Social impact and policy responses. 14 October 2022, Informal Meeting of Employment and Social Affairs Ministers (EPSCO). Presentation by Ivailo Kalfin, Executive Director, Eurofound.

14 Říjen 2022
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COVID-19 in the workplace: Employer’s responsibility to ensure a safe workplace

Throughout 2021, the second year of the COVID-19 pandemic, specific occupational health and safety rules were reintroduced due to increases in infection rates. Mandatory face masks, physical distancing and hygiene measures were enforced, and the recommendation to telework was largely re-instated in

Female teleworker taking notes during video conference on her laptop

Workers want to telework but long working hours, isolation and inadequate equipment must be tackled

The COVID-19 pandemic prompted a surge in telework, with dramatic increases in the number of employees working from home (teleworking) in many European countries. What for many employees started out as a mandatory move seems to have transformed into a preference among the majority for part-time or


Blogs results (62)
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Dr Erika Mezger, Eurofound's Deputy Director, outlines what the European Working Conditions Survey (EWCS) says about working conditions among German workers and how they compare to those of the rest of Europe.

2 Únor 2017
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In this article, originally posted in Social Europe Journal, senior programme manager Greet Vermeylen highlights why making work sustainable is an important issue for Europe.

16 Prosinec 2016
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Even in the confused and contentious context of the new US President-elect as well as the EU’s post- Brexit deliberations, it is hard to argue otherwise. But, while having a job in the first place is clearly of paramount importance to people - and society at large – there is also a more sophisticate

23 Listopad 2016
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In his recent State of the Union address, European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker laid out his vision for the EU over the next 12 months. There was no shirking of responsibility; Europe faces difficult challenges, and the EU Institutions, as well as the Member States, must deliver for EU c

20 Říjen 2016
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Europe has gone through significant economic change over the past decade. Businesses have had to manage the challenges posed by the financial crisis, globalisation and a rapidly changing labour market. Eurofound's new report Win-win arrangements: Innovative measures through social dialogue at compan

3 Říjen 2016
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There are limits to the effectiveness of member states’ pension reforms. Europe, it’s often said, is experiencing a worsening ageing crisis. European governments grappling with this and the related unsustainability of many pension schemes have taken measures to keep older workers longer in employmen

26 Září 2016
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In this blog piece, originally posted on Social Europe, Eurofound Director Juan Menéndez-Valdés looks the complex and multi-faceted story of what it is to live and work in the European Union of today.

13 Červen 2016
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Since the advent of the Industrial Revolution, technological change has brought both opportunities and risks. However, the widespread entry of computing technology into the workplace in the 1980s, and in particular the arrival of the World Wide Web in the 1990s, has profoundly affected society and t

25 Květen 2016
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This article, originally posted in Social Europe, is based on a comprehensive overview of surveys on the working life experiences of LGBT people in the EU. 17 May is International day against homophobia, transphobia and biphobia. Lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) people face distinct dis

17 Květen 2016
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The European Union (EU) has strong legislation in place that protects workers from being exploited and also enables businesses to engage in fair competition. Workers are mobile and can move freely within the EU single market across borders – without being dependent upon traffickers. Yet, the latest

3 Květen 2016

Upcoming publications results (5)

The overview report of the European Working Conditions Survey 2024 ( EWCS24) provides a comprehensive description of the workforce, and includes information on digital work practices, social relations at work and inclusive workplaces. It evaluates job quality across seven dimensions: earnings,

March 2026

The COVID-19 pandemic has accelerated the transition to hybrid work, where employees split their time between working from home and on-site. While this model offers increased flexibility, it also introduces unique challenges for managers requiring innovative approaches to leadership, communication,

March 2026

This policy brief investigates how organisations are adapting their work organisation and practices to hybrid work. Based on case studies and on data from the European Working Conditions Survey 2024, the policy brief examines how hybrid work is being managed in organisations and profiles t

December 2025

Over the past decade, platform work has grown significantly in the EU, both in terms of the number of workers involved and the variety of services available to customers. Despite this expansion, significant evidence gaps remain, particularly regarding the profiles and working conditions of workers

November 2025
Forthcoming
Publication
Research report

The first findings from the European Working Conditions Survey 2024 (EWCS24) provide information on changes over time in the seven domains of job quality and key indicators on the quality of working life and sustainable work. They also include information on algorithmic management, hybrid work,

September 2025
Data results (1)

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