1. Quality of work and employment
in Europe:
ongoing changes and
future challenges
Greet Vermeylen, research manager
European Foundation for the Improvement of Living and Working Conditions (eurofound)
18/12/2008 1

2. Quality of work and employment :
a multidimensional concept
Career and employment security
. Employment status
. Income
. Social protection
. Workers’ rights
Skills development
Health and well-being . Qualifications
Quality of
. Health problems . Training
work and employment
. Risk exposure . Learning organisation
. Work organisation . Career development
Reconciliation of working and
non-working life
. Working/non-working time
. Social infrastructures
18/12/2008 2

3. Measuring QWE through working conditions:
the European Working Conditions Survey
European wide survey – 4 waves already: 1991, 1995, 2000
(+01/02) and 2005, now preparing 5th wave
1 questionnaire / 25 languages and 16 variants
4th EWCS:
31 countries covered : EU27 + ACC2 + NO + SW
29680 interviews in total (1000/600 interviews per country)
Workers survey: employees and self-employed (15+) (LFS def)
Face to face interviews of around 35 minutes
From 1991 to 2005: questionnaire has expanded from 30 to 100
questions – however attempt to keep ‘trends’
Revision of questionnaire with the support of an expert
questionnaire development group
Revision of the quality process and strict quality assurance
mechanisms
18/12/2008 3

4. Measuring QWE through working conditions:
the European Working Conditions Survey- ctd
Covers different aspects of conditions of work and employment of European
workers (more than 100 questions)
Demographics, structure of workforce, job characteristics
Working time : duration, organisation
Physical and psychosocial work factors
Nature of work
Place of work /work organisation
Work-life balance
Job content and training
Information and consultation
Outcomes (health, job satisfaction, work life balance etc)
Earnings
Challenges of the survey:
To give trends in EU working conditions in the last 15 years (where possible)
To cover all European countries in a completely homogeneous way (allowing for
detailed comparisons)
18/12/2008 4

5. Men and women at work:
changes and challenges
More people work in all sectors; however relative decline in
manufacturing industry and increase in service industry
Increasing proportion of women on the labour market (44% of the
workforce)
…Accompanied by a prevalence of part time (80 % of part
timers are women)
New way of organising work for couples …
But high segregation in the labour market remains
Occupational and sectoral segregation
only 23% of workers work in gender mixed occupations
Also pay, time, employment gender gaps persist
18/12/2008 5

6. Employment and part-time by gender
100
Employment rate - Men
90
80
70
Employment rate - Women
60
%
50
40
Part-time work rate - Women
30
20
Part-time work rate - Men
10
0
15-19 20-24 25-29 30-34 35-39 40-44 45-49 50-54 55-59 60-64 65+
Source: Eurostat, LFS
18/12/2008 6

7. Employment concentration (EWCS)
100%
90%
80%
70%
60%
50%
40%
30%
20%
10%
0%
men all women all
Manufacture and mining Wholesale and retail trade
Construction Education and health
Transport and cummunication Public adminsitration and and defence
Real estate Agriculture and fishing
Hotels and restaurants Financial intermediation
18/12/2008 Electricity, gas and water supply 7

8. More women managers ... managing women
Y o u r im m e d ia t e b o s s is …
100%
90% 2 0 .1 7 % 2 3 .1 6 % 2 4 .1 6 %
2 4 .8 1 % 2 8 .6 3 %
80%
70%
60%
50%
40% 7 9 .8 % 7 6 .8 % 7 5 .8 %
7 5 .2 % 7 1 .4 %
30%
20%
10%
0%
EU15 EU15 EU25 (E U 1 5 ) (N M S )
1995 2000 2005 (2 0 0 5 )
A m an A wom an
18/12/2008 8

9. Gender pay gap, EU27 employees only
0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90% 100%
male part-time
female part-time
male full-time
female full-time
Low est income band Highest income band
18/12/2008 9

10. Increase in ‘non-standard’ employment
More part-time work(18,5%)
More temporary employment (14%)
More second jobs (4%)
… but big differences over countries
Some challenges:
More flexibility in the labour market … and security?
Life course: one job for life is (long time over) – more complex
picture of division of work over the life course and within the couple
Building up your rights in this more complex framework
Challenge for individuals, companies, countries, European
Union
18/12/2008 10

11. Rise in non-standard employment in the
European Union, 1991-2005 (%)
20%
18%
16%
14%
12%
10%
8%
6%
4%
2%
0%
Self-employed Part-time Temporary Second job
employment
1991 (EU12) 1995 (EU15) 2000 (EU15) 2005 (EU25)
18/12/2008 11

12. But some differences over countries…
Temporary employment Part-time work
< 10 % BG, CZ, EE, EL, ES,
< 10 % AT, BE, BG, CZ,
CY, LV, LT, HU, PL,
DK, EE, IE, LV,
PT, RO, SI, SK
LT, LU, HU, MT,
RO, SK, UK
10-20% DE, EL, FR, IT, 10-20% FR, IE, IT, LU, MT,
CY, NL, T, SI, FI, PT, FI
SE
>20% BE, DE, DK, NL, AT,
>20% ES, PL, PT SE, UK
18/12/2008 12

13. Parttime work: varies considerably across Europe
(EWCS)
70
60
50
40 m
f
total
30
20
10
0
NL UK BE DK SE LU AT IE DE PL FR IT RO ES FI EE BG LT MT CZ EL HU PT LV CY SI SK
Source: Fourth European Working Conditions Survey (2007)
18/12/2008 13

14. Working time
Reduction of working hours due to a combination of :
Increase of part time : 33% of women and 8% of men work
part time
Reduction of long weekly hours (>48 hrs) : 15% of workers,
44% of the self-employed
Regular working hours and working week, still the norm :
58% of workers work the same number of hours every day,
74% the same number of days every week, 61% have fixed
starting and finishing times
Employers set working hours in majority of cases :
56% of workers
18/12/2008 14

15. Working hours
0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100%
2000 1995 1990
8.5% 8.7% 16.0% 35.5% 12.9% 18.5%
EU12
8.7% 10.4% 19.9% 32.2% 12.4% 16.5%
EU15
11.5% 11.5% 20.1% 32.8% 9.5% 14.6%
EU15
10.9% 10.5% 21.3% 32.5% 11.0% 13.8%
EU25
2005
11.6% 11.3% 24.1% 30.6% 10.2% 12.2%
OMS
6.9%5.3%5.4% 43.6% 16.0% 22.8%
NMS
Less than 20h 21-34h 35-38h 39-41h 42-48h Mo
18/12/2008 15

16. But again considerable differences
between countries
Ave rage w e e k ly w ork ing hours in diffe re nt Europe an countrie s
100
90
80
70
60
50
40
30
20
10
0
TR RO EL BG PL HR SK HU PT SI CZ LV MT LT ES EE CY AT EU IT LU SE IE DE FI CH BE DK FR UK NO NL
18/12/2008 16

17. Combined working hours : women work the longest
(EU27 only)
0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70
Part-time
7.3
23.5
male
female 21.3 32.7
Full-time
43.1 7.9
male
female 40.0 23.0
Paid working hours main job +Paid working hours second job
+Commuting time +Unpaid working hours
18/12/2008 17

18. Working time flexibility does not increase as
quickly as one tends to believe
Work fixed starting and finishing times by
gender, %
80
70
60
50
40
30
20
10
0
EU15 EU15 EU15 EU25
1995 2000 2005 2005
male female total
Source: Fourth European Working Conditions survey
18/12/2008 18

19. Possibility to choose your working hours
(by country)
100%
80%
60%
40%
20%
0%
SE NL DK FI AT BE LU UK FR DE IE IT EE SI CZ SK PL ES LV MT LT RO HU EL PT CY BG
Your working hours are entirely determined by yourself
You can adapt your working hours within certain limits
You can choose between several fixed working schedules
They are set by the company with no possibility for changes
Source: Fourth European Working Conditions survey
18/12/2008 19

20. And working differently …
Increase in computer use
Impact on where we work, when we work, how we work, work organisation and team work
Increase in pace of work
Work intensity : working to tight deadlines, high speed, not having enough time to get the job
done: on the increase in the EU
Pace of work dependant on others than yourself: mostly demand-led
Service society
Usually mix of different constraints, but mostly direct people’s demands
Control over pace of work (autonomy): able to choose or change order of tasks, methods of
work, speed of work, able to take a break when you wish
Work organisation
Different types of work organisation with different impact
18/12/2008 20

21. Substantial increase in computer use
Does your main paid job involve working with computers?
0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90% 100%
1990
EU12
1995
EU15
2000
EU15
2005
EU25
(EU15)
(2005)
(NMS)
All of the time Almost all of the time Around 3/4 of the time Around half of the time Around 1/4 of the time Almost never Never
18/12/2008 21

22. Increase in work intensity
Does your job involve working at very high speed?
0.0% 10.0% 20.0% 30.0% 40.0% 50.0% 60.0% 70.0% 80.0% 90.0% 100.0%
1990
37.1% 16.8% 12.5% 10.9% 5.0% 10.6% 7.2%
EU12
1995
29.4% 16.4% 11.6% 11.8% 5.9% 13.4% 11.6%
EU15
2000
EU15 26.8% 17.2% 12.0% 12.4% 7.3% 13.7% 10.6%
2005
21.6% 18.7% 12.4% 12.3% 10.0% 15.1% 10.0%
EU25
Never Almost never Around 1/4 of the time Around half of the time Around 3/4 of the time Almost all of the time All of the time
18/12/2008 22

23. Pace of work: demand led...
70%
60%
50%
40%
30%
20%
10%
0%
Direct people's Work done by Performance The direct The movement
demands colleagues targets control of your of a machine
boss
2005 EU15 2005 NMS
1995 EU15 2000 EU15 2005 EU25
18/12/2008 23

24. Changing risks in a service society
Physical risks are still prevalent: either stable or
slightly on the increase
Repetitive arm and hand movements, painful and tiring
positions
Psychosocial risks:
differences over countries, sectors
18/12/2008 24

25. Exposure to physical risks : stable or on the increase
70
60
50
40
30
20
10
0
Vibrations Noise Low temps Breathing in Handling Radiation Painful, tiring Repetitive
smoke, fumes, chemical (welding light positions hand or arm
dust or products / etc) movements
powder substances
1990 EU12 1995 EU15 2000 EU15 2005 EU25 2005 EU25 2005 OMS 2005 NMS
18/12/2008 25

26. Bullying / harassment in the workplace
25
20
15
10
5
0
MT
AT
LV
CY
LT
PT
CZ
IT
FI
SI
NO
RO
BG
IE
BE
DK
EE
UK
DE
SK
SE
ES
NL
EL
PL
LU
HR
FR
CH
TR
HU
M F
18/12/2008 26

27. Violence and harassment by sector
16
14
12
10
8
6
4
2
0
M Ag C Tr
El Fi W
R EU H Pu Ed
on
an ea ot
na an
ec ho
ric bl uc
e
s
l
uf
tri nc sp ic
le ls
u tru at
es
ac ltu
ci sa
ia ad
or
an io
ta ct
ty tu li re le n
ta m
io
,g te d
nt
re an
an in
n
an nd
re
er
as an .a d
st
d
d
m co
au he
an nd
d re
fis
ed m
m ta al
d ra
hi
ia de
m
in th
il t
ng
wa nt
tio un
in fe
s
ra
te n
g nc
ic
de
rs at e
io
up n
ply
Threats of violence Violence Bullying / harassment Unwanted sexual attention
18/12/2008 27

28. Impact of work on health
Impact of work on health, 2005
0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60%
Work affects health
Reported symptoms:
Backache
Muscular pains
Stress
Fatigue
Headache
Irritability
Anxiety
Hearing
Respiratory
EU15 NMS
18/12/2008 28

29. Working differently: need to be able to cope with
more change over life, transitions, learning
possibilities and work organisation
In order to smoothen changes in (working) life (transitions) : very
important to keep up to date your skills
Different ways to ensure continuous development of workers :
training, work organisation (functional flexibility)
However, huge differences over
countries /
high or low skilled workers
Age of workers
18/12/2008 29

30. Training per educational level, age, contract
40
35
30
25
q28a_1. Have you undergone: Training paid for or provided by your employer, o
20
15 Occupation high low skilled Total
10 high skilledlow skilled high skilledlow skilled blue collar
5
q28a_1. Ha 42.94158 27.06726 17.54386 16.54453 28.93401
0
15.24795 7.365287 2.684498 3.636275 28.93401
it e
ry
y rs
y rs
ry
y
io n
er
r
rm
ry
57.05842 72.93274 82.45614 83.45547 71.06599
ss
nge
dar
o ra
e f in
nda
o ld
nda
-t e
r le
-3 9
-5 4
c at
20.26064 19.84576 12.61714 18.34244 71.06599
on
yo u
mp
ed
or
Ind
e co
ry o
ec o
edu
25
40
s ec
Total 100 100 100 100 100
F ix
Te
yrs
or
rs
ma
s t -s
ry
35.50859 27.21105 15.30164 21.97872 100
per
55
yrs
we
r ti a
P ri
Po
Up
24
Lo
Te
18/12/2008 30

31. Access to training paid for by employer in
previous 12 months
60
50
40
30
20
10
0
IE
EE
DE
FI
CH
EU
HR
FR
HU
TR
MT
IT
PT
NO
RO
SE
BE
UK
DK
ES
NL
PL
EL
SI
LU
CZ
LT
BG
SK
CY
AT
LV
18/12/2008 31

32. Some results from qualitative follow- up
interviews on development in the job
Different traditions in life-long learning across countries
Costs is the most often cited reason for insufficient training provision
Time pressure may become an obstacle to participation in training,
self learning and using full potential and creativity
Quality of training and use of acquired skills at work more important
than quantity of training
Teamwork positively perceived in terms of job development
18/12/2008 32

33. R o t at ing t asks and t eamwo rk, 2 0 0 5, emp lo yees o nly ( EU 2 7)
0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90%
48%
Job involves r otating tasks
OF WHICH:
78%
Tasks r equir ing dif f er ent skills
72%
Manager decides on r otation
51%
Wor ker s decide r otation
60%
Job involves teamwor k
OF WHICH:
52%
Teammember s decide division of tasks
29%
Teammember s elect teamleader
18/12/2008 33

34. Another way of improving skills as well as
increase (functional) flexibility in Europe:
a typology of work organisation & impact
on learning and developing yourself
Discretionary learning forms (38% of employees)
Overrepresentation of autonomy, learning dynamics, task complexity, self
assessment of work as well as autonomous teamwork
Lean production forms (26% of employees)
Overrepresentation of teamwork, task rotation, quality management variables
and objective determinants of pace of work
Taylorist forms (20% of employees)
Low autonomy, learning dynamics, complexity and overrepresentation of obj
determinants of pace of work, repetitiveness, monotony and quality norms
traditional and simple structure forms (16%)
Poorly described by the variables of work organisation.
18/12/2008 34

35. Innovative forms of work organisation index
2
1
0
-1
-2
SE DK FI NL MT BE EE LU FR IE AT UK DE LV SI PL CZ HU PT IT RO CY ES EL SK LT BG
18/12/2008 35

36. Some changes and some challenges
• The way we work is changing is the EU, and the way work is organised at company and household
level as well as in society is changing …
• Working conditions show considerable variations across Europe
• More women in the workforce but gender gaps (pay, time, employment rate, as well as
occupational and sectoral gaps) are still apparent across Europe
• More flexibility for companies, flexibility for workers: but is all depends on how this can be
supported at household (and societal) level
• Work intensification on the increase
• Health and safety risks are still an issue, including psychosocial risks, particularly in sectors with a
high level of customer interaction
• Low levels of training and competence development … big challenge in context of growing
knowledge economy / drives to life long learning
• Work organisation (autonomous teamwork etc) can play an important role in developing skills of
workers : towards a learning organisation ?
• Companies can make a difference … we find very interesting examples of good practice in Europe
• Enhance quality of work in this new world of work is a constant challenge in which all actors have a
18/12/2008 to play and in which trust building in these changes is an important element
role 36

37. Thank you
More info:
www.eurofound.europa.eu
gve@eurofound.europa.eu
18/12/2008 37