Skip to content

News archive

  • Eurofound Talks: What is the future for gender equality in Europe?

    Eurofound Talks: What is the future for gender equality in Europe?

    Eurofound, in partnership with the European Institute for Gender Equality, has published a special episode of the Eurofound Talks podcast for International Women’s Day. The episode looks at women’s progress in the labour market and society over the past five decades, as well as sticking points on the path to gender equality in Europe, particularly related to the gender employment and pay gaps.

  • Photo: mlasaimages/Adobe Stock

    Mind the gap! Gender employment gap cost Europe over €390 billion in 2023

    Eurofound analysis of the gender employment gap in the EU shows that its cost - when considering foregone earnings and missed welfare contributions of individuals to society, as well as the public finance cost - was estimated to be over €390 billion in 2023, corresponding to 2.3% of the EU’s GDP.

  • Eurofound Talks: 50 years of social change in Ireland and Europe

    Eurofound Talks: 50 years of social change in Ireland and Europe

    In this episode of the Eurofound Talks podcast Mary McCaughey speaks with Eurofound Deputy Director Maria Jepsen, and Barry Colfer, Director of Research at the Institute of International and European Affairs (IIEA), about European social change over the past 50 years, Eurofound’s role in these changes, how Ireland itself has developed and changed, and the challenges currently on the horizon.

  • Job retention schemes saved close to 27 million jobs during the pandemic

    Job retention schemes saved close to 27 million jobs during the pandemic

    Job retention schemes, one of the main policy tools used during the COVID-19 pandemic to safeguard jobs and protect incomes, saved 26.9 million jobs in the EU in 2020 and 2021.The schemes also reduced inequality by 0.15 percentage points, and lowered the at-risk-of-poverty rate by 0.5 percentage points.

  • Urban and capital areas continue economic and employment dominance

    Urban and capital areas continue economic and employment dominance

    Urban and capital areas have disproportionately benefitted from the digital revolution in Europe, with a high rate of knowledge and service-based jobs. By comparison, many rural areas risk being left behind, with unbalanced urban economic dominance further deepening urban-rural divides.

  • Tight labour markets threaten EU growth, innovation and long-term goals

    Tight labour markets threaten EU growth, innovation and long-term goals

    Prolonged labour shortages in the EU affect growth, innovation and the bloc’s ability to achieve its digital and green targets, as around 80% of EU employers struggle to recruit workers with the right skills. Currently, the skills of one in three employees in the EU are mismatched with their job, with 17% overqualified and 13% underqualified.

  • Image: Robert Kneschke/Adobe Stock

    2023 was a good year to be working in Europe

    Eurofound’s 2023 yearbook, Living and working in Europe, provides a snapshot of the latest developments in the work and lives of Europeans as explored in the Agency’s research activities over the course of the year.

  • Image: Drobot Dean/Adobe Stock

    Almost half of trainees in the EU do not receive compensation

    Only 54% of traineeships or apprenticeships in the EU receive compensation, according to Eurofound data published in a new report by the European Court of Auditors on participation, quality and outcomes of traineeships in the 27 EU Member States. The report highlights the need to improve the quality of traineeship offerings, including learning support and the possibility of obtaining new skills.

  • Simon Harris T.D. addressing the Skills for Jobs event in Dublin today. Photo credit: Marta Luczak

    European Year of Skills: Putting skills at the top of the agenda in Ireland and the EU

    How to address this skills gap in Ireland was at the centre of a ‘Skills for Jobs’ seminar and panel discussion organised by the European Commission Representation in Ireland and Eurofound, the European Foundation for the Improvement of Living and Working Conditions, which took place at Europe House in Dublin today.

  • Image: © agnormark/ /Adobe Stock

    Does Europe have the skills it needs for a changing economy?

    Eurofound has just published a new episode of the Eurofound Talks podcast on skills in Europe. In the episode Mary McCaughey speaks with Eurofound Research Manager Tina Weber, Eurofound Senior Research Manager Gijs van Houten, and Giovanni Russo, Senior Expert at CEDEFOP – the European Centre for the Development of Vocational Training.

  • Recent losses in real minimum wages have not eroded long-term gains in purchasing power

    Recent losses in real minimum wages have not eroded long-term gains in purchasing power


    While losses in real minimum wages have occurred in several countries across the European Union, these have not eroded the long-term gains of purchasing power that have occurred across the EU since 2013. In an effort to offset inflation, governments have significantly increased nominal minimum wages across Europe. In 2023, the median nominal increase was almost 11%, compared with just 5% in 2

Show more