While the prospects for minimum wage workers in early 2023 looked gloomy – with rates in many EU Member States struggling to offset rising prices – the new year brings better news. National minimum wages were raised significantly in most countries, both in nominal and real terms, and also when examined in the context of the entire period since 2022, when inflation rates started to surge.
With inflation expected to persist, a further depreciation of minimum wages in real terms can be expected in most Member States, as only a few foresee additional increases in 2023.
New data from Eurofound’s European Company Survey (ECS) show that two-thirds of workers (private sector, with more than 10 employees, EU27) are estimated to have their wages set via a collective wage agreement. Bargaining coverage is substantially higher in countries where there are sectoral agreements and where these are frequently extended to non-covered companies or workers.
As one of their ‘100 days in office’ initiatives, the new European Commission intends to propose an initiative for an EU minimum wage. The aim is that by 2024 every worker in the EU should earn a fair and adequate wage, no matter where they live. And despite the Commission’s assurance that this would not alter national traditions of wage-setting, emotions are already running high
John Maynard Keynes famously thought that, by now, the primary societal issue would be boredom, due to productivity increasing to a level where we would only need to work 15 hours per week. He was evidently wrong. Despite huge changes in technology and productivity, long working hours are still prevalent.
The votes have been cast, tallied and declared and we can now see the political landscape of the new European Parliament. To what extent have mixed developments in employment and quality of life contributed to the more fractured political landscape? And can the EU continue to deliver to the more diverse demands of citizens across Europe?
Seniority entitlements have largely been on the decline since the 1990s, and have been gradually phased-out from legislation in Europe, as well as in collective agreements. However, it would be premature to dismiss seniority-based entitlements as a thing of the past, as they remain in force across Europe, even if the more expansive term of ‘relevant experience’ is preferred.
In this blog piece, originally published in Social Europe, Karel Fric and Camilla Galli da Bino look at the issue of discrimination against men in the workplace in Europe, and the current lack of research in this area.
Friday 3 November is European Equal Pay Day. In the following blog piece Christine Aumayr-Pintar looks at the issue of pay inequality, contending that far from being a fair weather issue, addressing pay gaps should be an ongoing priority for Europe.
Manufacturing is on the up in Europe. The latest data shows that, for the first time since 2005, the number of new manufacturing jobs announced in national media outstripped the number of announced job losses. In this blog piece Andrea Broughton and John Hurley take a closer look at the resurgence of the sector.
In the following blog piece, originally posted on Social Europe, Eurofound Head of Information and Communication Mary McCaughey takes a look at what it was like to live and work in Europe in 2016.
In the following blog piece Eurofound Senior Programme Manager Stavroula Demetriades looks at the relationship between social dialogue and business success, particularly during times of crisis.
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 (European Foundation for the Improvement of Living and Working Conditions) is a tripartite EU body, whose mission is to provide knowledge to assist in the development of better social, employment and work-related policies.
