Despite nominal increases in statutory minimum wages reaching an all-time high between January 2022 and January 2023, minimum wage workers in most EU countries are seeing their purchasing power decline or just about compensated, based on preliminary inflation figures.
41.7 million people teleworked across the EU in 2021, double the number of 2019, as COVID-19 restrictions and changes in work culture significantly impacted work organisation.
The new factsheet on Living, working and COVID-19 in the European Union and 10 EU neighbouring countries presents a selection of results from the fifth round of Eurofound’s e-survey which extended to 10 neighbouring countries for the first time.
Oscar Vargas and Mary McCaughey use results from the Living, working and COVID-19 online surveys, the European Working Conditions Telephone Survey, and other analyses from Eurofound to investigate what the future holds for telework in Europe, and whether the mass rollout of telework has been to the benefit of workers and businesses.
Working experiences varied dramatically during the pandemic with those working from home during the COVID-19 pandemic faring better than other groups over a range of employment and working conditions indicators, even though many worked comparatively long hours and often with high levels of work intensity.
Stefania Rossi has been elected Chair of Eurofound’s Management Board at the Agency’s annual Management Board meeting in Dublin on 18 November. The annual gathering of representatives from governments, employer organisations and trade unions in all EU 27 Member States, and the European Commission and the European Parliament, also approved Eurofound’s work programme for 2023.
The new episode of Eurofound Talks looks in-depth at care: care for children, care for older people, care for those who are frail or with disabilities, access to care, the quality of care, and the working conditions of care workers.
The recovery in employment levels was faster for women than for men in the EU following the COVID-19 pandemic: in the last quarter of 2021 there were just over 2 million more women in employment and 1 million more men compared with the same period in 2020.
The impact of the COVID-19 crisis has deepened the traditional gender divides across many areas including the labour market, working conditions, work-life conflict and overall working time, according to findings from Eurofound’s latest research report; COVID-19 pandemic and the gender divide at work and home.
Guy Ryder, Director-General of the International Labour Organization (ILO) and Ivailo Kalfin, Executive Director of Eurofound, have signed a framework agreement for cooperation between the two organisations for the 2022-2025 period. The renewed framework agreement covers joint research projects, seminars, training and sharing of expertise, and visits.
Eurofound research has demonstrated that existing initiatives often fail to provide both platform workers and platform companies with the regulatory predictability and legal certainty needed for ensuring good working conditions and a level playing field.
Platform work is on the rise across Europe, bringing new pressures to bear on working conditions and labour markets and putting a spotlight on the wide-ranging individual risks. Who are these workers, what do they do and how can we ensure they are protected while we grow this new form of employment? This is the focus of the latest episode of Eurofound Talks.
For the first time, the five EU Agencies came together to highlight their insights and explore the challenges and opportunities of young people in times of uncertainty at an event with the EMPL Committee in the European Parliament on 8 September.
Telework is becoming an established way of working across the EU post-pandemic. Employers and companies need to support hybrid workplaces and this new way of working while adapting to the many challenges in the business environment.
Rising energy prices are putting more people under increased financial pressure and at a greater risk of energy poverty, according to Eurofound report 'Living, working and COVID-19 e-survey: Living in a new era of uncertainty'
Trust in national institutions has declined across the EU over the past two years. Driven by increasingly difficult economic circumstances and unreliable news sources, even people who previously expressed higher trust levels – such as those in financially secure positions – have become less trusting. We take a closer look at e-survey data to explore this decline in trust.
Living and working in an era of disruption in one of the first public presentations of the results of Eurofound’s unique online Living and working survey which tracked the experiences of Europeans over the last two years - a period which saw a global pandemic, seismic shifts in the world of work, rising costs of living and now the war in Ukraine.
Recorded trust in institutions such as national governments, the EU, the police and news media has declined across the EU over the past two years, with those who previously expressed higher trust levels, such as those in financially secure positions, now becoming less trusting.
Against the background of inflation affecting European countries, minimum wage workers in 15 out of 21 Member States with statutory minimum wages registered a decline in their wages in real terms between 1 January 2021 and 1 January 2022. This was despite comparatively large increases in nominal rates in the EU during the period.
The Directors and senior staff of Eurofound and the Institute of European Affairs (IIEA) met at Eurofound, Dublin this week, following the recent appointment of David O’Sullivan as the Director General of IIEA. It was an opportunity to review ongoing collaboration between the two organisations, as well as discuss latest research; including on the economic, employment and social impacts of the COVI
