Tag: Employment

While Britain is trying to contain the influx of immigrants, Germany is making efforts to attract skilled workers from crisis-hit Southern Europe, various European media report.

Despite the lack of strong economic growth in Europe, there is more that can be done to create jobs, says the managing director of Eurociett, who believes EU policymakers have some tools to boost employment in a low-growth, or no-growth environment.

There are huge variations in employment conditions for visually impaired Europeans, but those countries offering more modern solutions do not always provide the best chances, says Fred Reid.

EU Energy Commissioner Günther Oettinger has written to Volkswagen CEO Martin Winterkorn, reassuring him that proposed EU regulations to cut vehicle CO2 emissions will not harm the German automobile giant because of relaxed rules for "supercredits". EurActiv reveals the content of the leaked letter.

Business people slammed Europe’s education and training systems for being inapt to prepare jobseekers to fill vacancies and called for school system reforms, including establishing dual learning schemes, which European Commission President José Manuel Barroso said will be highlighted in the upcoming EU proposal on skills.

As of 1 May 2011, citizens of the countries that joined the European Union in 2004 will finally have the right to live and work in all the bloc's member states. László Andor, the EU's employment commissioner, explains why workers' mobility is part of the solution to Europe's unemployment problem.

Since Europe has more employment and social problems now than before the crisis, more social inclusion measures need to be supported by the European Social Fund (ESF), which should be given competences on financial engineering, said László Andor, EU commissioner for employment, social affairs and inclusion, in an exclusive interview with EurActiv Slovakia.

While the EU as a whole continues to face record levels of unemployment, some member states are seeing growing levels of demand for labour, and recent reports reveal significant increases in the numbers of agency workers and part-time jobs.

Multinational companies and unions are struggling to find common ground on European Commission proposals for an EU directive on intra-corporate transfers (ICTs), which aims to make it easier for key staff members with special skills to work in the EU on a temporary basis.

Looking beyond the 2010 European Year for combating poverty and social exclusion, Employment and Social Policy Commissioner László Andor says the EU and its member states must keep working to find new and more effective ways to improve the lives of the most disadvantaged groups. He spoke to EurActiv in an exclusive interview.

Member states must increase efforts to help workers learn the skills needed to do the jobs that will be created in growth sectors in the coming years, according to the European Commission, which yesterday (23 November) adopted its 'Agenda for New Skills and Jobs'.

Despite the economic crisis, the German labour market is in good health and has become more flexible thanks to government reforms. But two real challenges in the coming years will be the ageing population and unemployment among immigrants. EurActiv Germany reports.

Romania's employment rate has been on a downward spiral in the last ten years and is currently way behind the EU's target for 2020. Women, young people and the over-45s are particularly struggling to find work in the country. EurActiv Romania reports.

Long-term unemployment is a major problem in Slovakia, partly due to the fact that many people prefer to receive social benefits instead of slightly higher wages. The country hopes that the 'Europe 2020' strategy can help overcome this and other problems. EurActiv Slovakia reports.

The Bulgarian government is aiming slightly higher than the EU's employment target set out in the 'Europe 2020' strategy, despite the country's high jobless rate and considerable pessimism among its citizens. Dnevnik, EurActiv's partner in Bulgaria, reports.

Up to 2.8 million European jobs could be secured if the transfer of businesses from one owner to another were adequately supported, according to Eurochambres, the umbrella group representing chambers of commerce. 

In a video presentation to the first ever meeting of G20 employment ministers in Washington DC yesterday (21 April), EU Employment Commissioner László Andor supported the creation of a global skills strategy, and called for industrial powers to maintain pre-recession job creation plans.

The economic crisis is exacerbating Europe's skills crisis as some companies shift from offering sure employment and become less inclined to invest in training, according to Olga Strietska-Ilina, a skills policy specialist at the International Labour Organisation (ILO).

Human resources (HR) managers in Europe's leading companies expect a slight improvement in employment conditions in 2010, according to a recent EU-wide survey.

At his hearing at the European Parliament, Hungarian Commissioner-designate László Andor was criticised for providing "too general" answers. But many of the questions themselves were also too general, Andor told EurActiv Hungary in an interview.

As a result of the financial and economic crises, László Andor, Hungary's commissioner-designate for employment and social affairs, expects to become a heavyweight in the Barroso II executive. EurActiv Hungary reports.

In the wake of the global financial and economic crises, the EU is developing a new labour market strategy as part of its successor to the 'Lisbon Agenda' for economic, social and environmental reform, which is due to end in 2010. The new roadmap will retain many of the previous ambitions, but will also be shaped by EU leaders' exit strategies.

The latest European labour market figures show that unemployment increased by 1.1% in February as the financial crisis continues to hit companies, particularly in the manufacturing sector.

Although European labour markets continued to recover in 2007, employment rates across Europe are still a long way short of the targets the EU set itself via the Lisbon Strategy for Growth and Jobs in 2000. Workers aged over 55 continue to face the greatest difficulties, new data reveals.