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Topics: Employment issues

  • Poland records longest annual working hours in the EU in 2020

    Employees in Poland are working 1,848 hours per year, the highest annual working hours figure (alongside Hungary) across the EU. The shortest hours are found in Germany (1,574 hours), France (1,610 hours) and Denmark (1,635 hours). These figures are part of Eurofound’s Working time in 2019–2020 report, which documents the most relevant changes in working time regulation after the onset of the COVI

  • COVID-19 brought Europe’s youth recovery to abrupt end

    COVID-19 ended a six-year decline in youth unemployment, with young people more likely to find themselves unemployed and to report poor mental health than the rest of the population. Young people were hit particularly hard both economically and socially with the pandemic striking Europe as youth unemployment was returning to pre-economic crisis levels for the first time. Economic and well-being ou

  • Workplace digitisation driving up skills

    New technologies such as the Internet of Things, 3D printing, and virtual and augmented reality can help put greater emphasis on managerial and analytical tasks, reduce physically demanding tasks, drive the upgrading of skills and increase job discretion. However, some aspects of these technologies, particularly the Internet of Things, raise concerns that employee performance could be excessively

  • Decrease of working hours and trust in national government marking COVID-19 impact in Czechia

    In quarter four of 2020, weekly working hours in Czechia decreased by 2.8 hours, marking the largest decrease in the EU in a year-on-year comparison with the same period of 2019 and followed by Austria (-1.8 hours per week). The EU’s average for the end-of-year quarter lies at -0.5 hours. This data was recently published in a joint Eurofound and European Commission report (What just happened? COVI

  • Österreich verzeichnet die höchste Arbeitszeitverkürzung und einen starken Vertrauensverlust in die nationale Regierung während COVID-19

    Die wöchentliche Arbeitszeit in Österreich hat sich zu Beginn der COVID-19 Pandemie (2. Quartal 2020) im Vergleich zum Vorjahreszeitraum um 2,6 Stunden verringert. Dies war der größte Rückgang in der EU und liegt über dem EU-Durchschnitt von -0,9 Stunden, wie aus einem gemeinsamen Bericht von Eurofound und der Europäischen Kommission hervorgeht (Was ist gerade passiert? COVID-19-Sperren und Veränd

  • Austria notes highest decrease of working hours and sharp decrease in trust in national government during COVID-19

    Weekly working hours in Austria decreased by 2.6 hours at the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic (quarter 2 2020) as compared to the same time of the previous year. This was the largest decrease in the EU and far beyond the EU average of -0.9 hours, as reported by a joint Eurofound and European Commission report (What just happened? COVID-19 lockdowns and change in the labour market), which describes

  • Workers on temporary contracts bore brunt of COVID-19 job loss

    Temporary workers, particularly those in non-teleworkable occupations such as services and sales jobs, elementary occupations and blue-collar occupations, were disproportionately impacted by COVID-19 job loss in Europe, accounting for three-quarters of net job loss in the EU in 2020.

  • COVID-19 triggered important changes in working time, but overall trends appear the same

    Despite economic restrictions significantly reducing working time in a number of sectors in Europe, overall trends do not fully reflect this due to the polarisation of working time in different sectors; with some workers left with little to do due to restrictions, and others facing burnout due to long working hours and arduous demands.

  • Pessimism gap in Spain among the largest of EU

    While 57% of respondents in Spain are pessimistic about the future of their country, only 7% expect their personal life to get worse in the next 12 months. This pessimism gap, which relates to the contrast between societal and personal perceptions of the future, of 50 percentage points in Spain is among the largest of the EU27. The European average equals 34 percentage points, however, the variati

  • Young people, women face long-term mental health effects due to COVID-19

    Mental well-being indicators for young people and women have decreased disproportionately across the EU between summer 2020 and spring 2021, against a background of overall decline in mental health well-being across the EU. The long term effects of this for society and the economy are of serious concern. This is according to Eurofound’s large-scale Living, working and COVID-19 online survey.
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  • COVID-19 one year on: A changed Europe

    The outbreak of COVID-19 in Europe may be moving gradually into history, but the long-term impacts of the pandemic on our work and lives is just beginning.

  • Future of Europe in the spotlight in discussions between Eurofound and Irish Government

    Eurofound’s Directorate met with Thomas Byrne T.D., Minister of State with responsibility for EU Affairs, in Dublin today to discuss the evolving role of the Agency in producing timely and relevant research on the implications of the COVID-19 pandemic on employment, the labour market and quality of life, as well as its strategic position as the only EU agency based in Ireland.

  • Teleworkers twice as likely to exceed 48-hour working time limit

    The shift to telework during the pandemic, and increased demand for more hybrid working arrangements in the future, is putting the spotlight on whether existing labour legislation is fit for purpose in post-pandemic Europe, according to Eurofound’s new report Right to disconnect: Exploring company practices.

  • Eurofound: Looking forward to post-pandemic Europe

    As Europe moves to the final stages of its initial vaccination programme, workers are now returning to offices and other places of work, and citizens in general are reengaging into the community. Eurofound will be releasing important new research this autumn investigating how COVID-19 has impacted our lives and what these changes mean for Europe.

  • 92% of Slovakian companies report difficulties in recruiting adequately skilled employees, amid high youth unemployment

    More than 9 out of 10 establishments with 10 or more employees in Slovakia report difficulties in finding suitable candidates for open positions, according to a recent Eurofound report on ‘Tackling labour shortages in EU Member States’. This is the highest proportion in the EU, followed by Romania (90%) and Malta (88%), while rates are lowest in Denmark and Greece (both 57%).

  • Belgium records relatively low number of job losses during COVID-19 pandemic

    In spring 2021, around 5% of people in Belgium, who had been employed before the pandemic, reported having lost their job. Compared to the EU average of 10%, Belgium fares comparatively well, with only neighbouring Luxembourg and the Netherlands reporting lower figures, according to Eurofound’s large-scale Living, working and COVID-19 online survey.

  • French vaccine hesitancy rates among highest in EU

    Fewer than 50% of people in France are likely to take the COVID-19 vaccination, according to Eurofound’s large-scale Living, working and COVID-19 online survey. In February and March 2021, just 48.7% replied that they were likely or very likely to get vaccinated against the COVID-19 virus when it becomes available to them. This is considerably lower than the EU average at 64.4%.

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