Tag: jobs

The number of people out of a job in the eurozone has fallen for the first time in more than two years, the latest sign the bloc may make a muted recovery from recession later this year.

Backed by the European Parliament’s youth committee, around 100 Brussels-based workers gathered in front of the European Parliament today (17 July) to protest the abuse and inherent inequality of employers’ "hire an intern, not an employee" culture.

While many countries around the world are opening their borders and are introducing more flexible and liberal migration policies, the EU is not following the trend. This has led to the paradoxical problem of labour shortages in crucial sectors at a time of very high youth unemployment, experts say.

Youth unemployment is still seen as a national problem and a responsibility for the member states. This is also the problem of the EU's proposed youth guarantee scheme which will be discussed by the social affairs ministers on Thursday (28 February), argue Ska Keller and Terry Reintke.

SPECIAL REPORT / Europe’s ICT industry has a ‘moral’ obligation to pull behind the Commission’s new Grand Coalition for Digital Growth and Jobs and help young people get jobs, Commission vice president, in charge of the digital economy, has told EurActiv in an interview.

SPECIAL REPORT / The European Commission in June plans to publish a survey explaining why Europe’s information and communication technology (ICT) sector has too few women despite a projected deficit of 700,000 skilled workers by 2015.

Germany, Denmark and the Netherlands all hold lessons for countries seeking to ease what German Chancellor Angela Merkel calls Europe's biggest burden - youth unemployment, a think tank said today (29 January).

Britain, and especially London, has become a popular place for tens of thousands of southern Europeans in search of work as the governments of Spain, Portugal and Italy continue to impose austerity measures.

Denmark has decided to abolish its fat tax after barely a year, citing too many negative side effects hitting businesses. A proposed sugar tax that was meant to be introduced in 2013 has also been scrapped.

The financial and economic crisis is not yet over, with lingering uncertainties about growth, competition and profits. Therefore, stricter credit terms are an important topic for small and medium enterprises, argues Markus Stock.

The European Commission yesterday (3 October) presented a new recipe to improve the functioning of the internal market with a focus on job-creation and growth in its Single Market Act II plan.

Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy is caught between a rock and a hard place. On the one hand, his voters are being bled dry on all sides. At the same time, an impatient EU is piling on the pressure to inflict even more pain at speed. It is a difficult balancing act for Rajoy, who needs his voters to believe that he has their best interests at heart under relentless pressure from the markets and the EU, writes Andy Langenkamp.

EU member states should not freeze or cut the EU budget that would support the autonomy and the rights of young people in Europe. They must think long term, says Peter Matjašič.

European leaders will adopt a ‘Compact for Growth and Jobs’ at their summit on Thursday and Friday in Brussels, stressing the importance of restoring economic growth in Europe, according to the draft conclusions of the meeting seen by EurActiv.

One out of five young Europeans are looking for work and the unemployment figures are not likely to improve until 2016, while policymakers are not doing enough to reverse the trend, said EU youth organisations.

The EU executive has hit back at doubts cast in the European Parliament over its models for calculating efficiency in the use of research funds and predicting how much employment they will create.

A new study by the European Trade Union Institute (ETUI) maps out the effects of the economic crisis on unemployment and inequality. It blames EU leaders, notably the European Commission’s push for austerity in early 2011 and the European Central Bank’s previously tight monetary policy, for the failure to spur a recovery.

While the rest of Europe protests about austerity measures, Swiss voters have rejected a proposal to increase employees' annual minimum paid holiday entitlement to six from four weeks after firms warned it might hurt competitiveness and threaten jobs.

Union leaders from across Europe gathered in Brussels yesterday (25 January) and agreed to oppose the 'fiscal compact' treaty. They proposed an alternative set of policies – including a new role for the European Central Bank and increased investment – which they say will provide growth and jobs.

Cloud computing is changing how IT professionals work. But is it putting them out of work? Not likely, say cloud providers. 

As modest growth figures fail to dim fears of recession and employment data do not restore confidence in a recovery, experts flag a ‘worrying’ crisis outcome if structural reforms are not taken promptly to adapt the workforce to new business needs. 

Europe risks being left behind by its global competitors as a shortage of engineers and scientists feed into lower productivity and a loss of domestic and international trade, delegates at this year's European Business Summit will hear.