Implementing a living wage could play a significant role in offsetting the rise of in-work poverty across the European Union, according to a new report from Eurofound on the Concept and practice of a living wage in the EU.
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 – labour shortages
Across the EU, on average 66% of the workforce holds a permanent contract and enjoys the most favourable standards of job quality. But for those in non-standard forms of employment, is job status negatively impacting job quality? The short answer is yes.
Over the last decade, European labour markets have seen a surge in the number of older workers in work and a continuous decline in their unemployment rates. A lot of young and middle-aged workers lost their jobs in the Great Recession, but not so the older age group. This means they receive less policy attention, which is unfortunate for older workers who suddenly find themselves without a job.
Manual jobs in European manufacturing are being transformed as blue-collar workers take on more intellectual tasks. This is a consequence of the increasing use of digital tools and the growing importance of quality control in production.
This graph, taken from the latest European Restructuring Monitor (ERM) report, shows the announced job losses and gains since 2008.
Eurofound's latest report from the Quality of Life Survey looks at five key aspects of social cohesion including perceived social exclusion, perceived social tensions, interpersonal trust, participation in society and a sense of community. Collectively, these aspects have an important bearing on the well-being of citizens.
Platform work is neither good nor bad – it just is. We need to adapt to this reality by finding ways to capitalise on the positive while at the same time counteracting the negative. This needs to be done in a differentiated way, taking account of the great variety in platform work. One-size solutions simply will not fit all.
On 8 November 2018 from 14:00 to 16:00 CET, Eurofound will host the webinar ‘Making the platform economy work well for workers’. This two-hour webinar will go beyond the debate about the challenges inherent in this new form of employment and focus on possible solutions to tackle the work and employment-related implications of platform work.
The equal treatment of women and men has been a fundamental principle of the European Union since its inception, but women in Europe still earn on average 16.2% less than men. Tomorrow, Saturday 3 November, marks the moment in the year when women symbolically stop getting paid compared to their male colleagues.
Apprenticeships are long established in manufacturing and are attractive for both employers and young people because of the balance between theoretical and practical education that they offer. However, in several countries in Europe and beyond, apprenticeships are lagging behind changes in manufacturing.
Restructuring is a common feature of labour markets and work organisation. While much research in this area primarily concentrates on the implications for those that lose their jobs, the latest report on restructuring from Eurofound focuses on the impacts for those that remain in an organisation.
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.
