The EU labour market in 2011 was marked by a sudden interruption of the timid recovery in employment. Employment started falling in the mid of 2011 amid a reduction of job finding rates and a new process of job shedding concerning most of the EU, with job separations surging in a few countries, notably Greece and Portugal. The current weakening of the labour market is mostly the result of worsening economic activity linked to the aggravation of the sovereign crisis. About 40% of the growth in unemployment for the overall EU since 2008 is due to the massive increase in Spanish unemployment. After four years with the beginning of the financial crisis, finding job rates remain low in most member counties. Youth unemployment rates increased dramatically in Greece, Portugal, Spain. Since the start of the crisis, most EU countries have taken an active reform stance, and managed in some cases to pass ambitious reform plans. Some countries have high unemployment and large external imbalances for this reason they try to improve their responsibility and labour market adjustment by reforming their job protection. Unemployment is becoming a very serious issue in a number of EU countries, with increasingly visible economic, social and political implications. The rate of the unemployment should be decreased that’s why the countries should create new conditions for the build up trust and to keep it labour demand on the stable basis. In several countries, these reforms usually politically were recently carried out within the framework of structural adjustment programmes. For examples Greece, Spain, Italy, and Portugal, took measures. Also in this countries by taking new tax reforms, could create the conditions for better mobilising labour supply and demand. In the countries should concerned by high youth unemployment policies and also focus on easing the school-work transition, including by an effective use of apprenticeship systems.On the basis of increasing poverty and social exclusion, increasing unemployment and reduced income lies.After the increase of the sovereign debt crisis in the euro area, investments and consumption decisions have influenced. Unemployment in the EU as a whole grew, in contrast with other world regions.The unemployment rate in the euro area is currently at the highest level and unemployment performance at unprecedented levels. The number of unemployed in April 2012 was 17.4 million for the euro area, almost 25 million in the EU. The number of job losses since 2008 amounts to about 5 million for the EU; 3 million for the euro area.
In 2011, the euro area was the world region with the highest unemployment rate. Since second half of 2011, unemployment developments in industrialised countries have started to diverge, mainly as a consequence of a more sustained recovery in the US and Canada compared with the EU and Japan.In Japan, GDP growth turned out negative following weak external demand and the supply chain disruptions related with the earthquake and flooding in Thailand. Conversely, in many other industrialised countries, most notably Canada, Australia, and New Zealand, unemployment remains above the pre-crisis average in spite of the recovery.In the United States, relatively stable real wages were associated with sluggish job creation amid strong recovery of productivity growth. In Japan, the limited adjustment in head-count employment during the 2011 contraction coincided with a substantial increase in real wages, mostly attributable to price deflation
The European employment strategy seeks to create more and better jobs throughout the EU. It takes its inspiration from the Europe 2020 growth strategy. In response to the high level of unemployment in Europe, the European Commission launched in April 2012 a set of measures to boost jobs, the so called “Employment package”.
- 1. Support job creation
- 2. Restore the dynamics of labour markets
- 3. Strengthen the governance of employment policies
Flexicurity is an integrated strategy for enhancing, at the same time, flexibility and security in the labour market.
Working with national governments, social partners and academics the EU has found acommon flexicurity principles and has explored how countries can implement them through four components:Flexible and reliable contractual arrangements,Comprehensive lifelong learning strategies,Effective active labour market policies,Modern social security systems
Integrated flexicurity policies play a key role in modernising labour markets and contributing to the achievement of the 75% employment rate target set by the Europe 2020 Strategy.
Sources:
http://www.oecd.org/
http://data.worldbank.org/data-catalog/world-development-indicators
http://www.worldbank.org/
http://epp.eurostat.ec.europa.eu/portal/page/portal/eurostat/home/
http://www.wikipedia.org/
Written by Latife Cansu Bayar, Eyüp Dönderalp, Lucija Kacin and Lenka Filova
The world of labour 