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A NEW REPORT FROM THE European Commission, 'Employment in Europe 2001, recent trends and prospects' paints a reasonably optimistic picture of the efforts to stimulate employment, both to decrease the jobless rate and to increase participation in the labour market. In her introduction, the employment commissioner Anna Diamantopoulou writes 'the European Union can be pleased with its employment performance in recent years'. The figures quoted in the report would seem to support this. In total, employment grew by 1.8%, compared with growth of 1.6% during 1999. This means that over 3 million jobs were created in 2000, bringing the overall employment rate (the ratio of those in work to those of working age) to 63.3%, up from 62.3% in 1999. The employment rate has increased in all EU countries since the beginning of the 1990s, with the exception of Sweden, Germany and Finland. The report states that there is a real chance of reaching the 'feasible challenge' of the target set at the Lisbon European Council meeting last year, of an EU employment rate of 70% by 2010. To achieve this 17 million new jobs will have to be created representing an average growth rate of 1.1% per year.
However the Lisbon summit promised both quality in employment and more equality, so how is the EU doing by these measures ? It seems that criticism that only low quality part time jobs were being created is not borne out by the report. 'For the third year in a row, more full time jobs than part-time jobs were created in 2000. Full time jobs accounted for almost 70% of the net jobs created, up from 60% in 1999 and 54% in 1998'. Temporary contracts now account for 13.2% of total employment in the EU but almost a third of workers in these jobs move into permanent employment within a year although this figure is lower for women and young employees. The high-tech and knowledge intensive employers contributed more than 60% of job creation between 1995 and 2000 but, the report says, this does not mean that all employment in this sector is highly skilled 'Employment growth was also stronger for low and medium-skilled employed in [these] sectors'. Overall 'Almost a quarter of the European workforce are in low-quality jobs - jobs that lack security and training' but the evidence is that it is possible, particularly for young workers, to escape into more satisfying positions. The other side of the coin is that it is just as possible for older workers to slip down the employment ladder.
Women, older and younger people have been the groups that have fared less well in recent years but the research indicates that this situation too is improving. 'Women took more than half of the jobs created in 2000 - some 60% of the 10 million since 1995. In 2000, the employment rate of women reached 54%'. However there is still a difference of 18.6% between this figure and the male equivalent. Despite the good recent record of women in high education and high-tech sectors these jobs are still predominantly taken by men. Older people are generally much less active in the labour market than other groups though the numbers vary widely between Member States: 69.4% of 55-64 year olds in Sweden are active but only 27% in Belgium. Young people are over-represented in part time jobs, 23.2% of them have one, but often this is combined with educational courses.
The Lisbon meeting's declaration that Europe would become 'the most competitive and dynamic knowledge-based economy in the world' entails greater training and education for employees and the report confirms that this is improving: 'In 2000, a quarter of the EU labour force had attained tertiary education levels and almost 70% had at least secondary education. The proportion of the workforce with less than secondary education has fallen by 8 percentage points since 1995 to about 30% in 2000'.
While the report is generally favourable, all parties admit that continued progress is dependent on economic expansion. Typical is the response of the ETUC's Emilio Gabaglio, 'a lot of the Commission's good news is about 2000, when the EU recovery was in full swing and the highest growth rates for a generation were being recorded. Things are now looking much more sombre. Instead of a 31/2 per cent growth this year, we could be lucky to achieve 2 per cent. If that trend continued or even worsened next year, then the employment gains of last year could start to unravel'.
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'Employment in Europe 2001, recent trends and
prospects' | |
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'Adobe Acrobat Reader' to view it can be downloaded at |
NEGOTIATIONS AT TWO European National airlines have highlighted how the difference in the fortunes of these companies varies with their size. Lufthansa settled their dispute with their pilots (see Issue 15) by offering them a pay rise of 28% which it says will make them the second best paid in Europe. Meanwhile TAP Air Portugal, which lost $84.6 million last year, is reviewing pay contracts for all its 8,800 staff to try and cut the loss by 50%. No pay increase has been negotiated for 2001.
FALLOUT FROM THE Marks and Spencer collapse continues. In Spain unions representing the firm's 786 staff have negotiated an agreement which will guarantee them 46 days per year of service plus preference for any new jobs should the Spanish shops be taken on by another company.
THE SWEDISH TUC, known as the LO, has concluded a survey on company directors' pay which compares it to that of its blue collar members. It found that the gap was widening. On average the executives earned 12.6 times the wage in manufacturing industry. However managing directors in large private sector companies earn 32 times more than the workers and this figure was only 9 in 1980.
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