Low-skilled workers encounter increasing difficulties to find a job, face lower job stability and are out-competed by medium-skilled workers even in elementary occupations. In contrast, job opportunities are growing in some high-skilled professions. These are the main findings of the recently published European Vacancy and Recruitment Report 2014.
The report also highlights the increase in temporary and part-time work during the crisis and underlines the need to better support school-to-work transitions, to decrease segmentation of the labour markets and to up-skill jobseekers, particularly the low qualified.
“Persistent labour market segmentation and weak economic recovery mean that many people are excluded from job opportunities and risk falling into poverty. Employment prospects for those with poor education are dire unless they acquire the right set of skills and competences sought by employers,” László Andor, Commissioner for Employment, Social Affairs and Inclusion, said.
According to the report, only five countries (Austria, Belgium, Germany, Malta and Sweden) have recovered both their pre-crisis GDP and employment levels. At 218 million, average EU employment in 2012 was 2.6% less than in 2008.
The number of vacancies went down by 19% and hirings by 14% on average between 2008 and 2012, with considerable variation between countries.
Young people with low qualifications were worst affected by the crisis – hiring fell by one third (-31%) comparing the second quarter in 2013 with 2008. Young people generally enjoy a high rate of hiring, but this is not reflected by a significant reduction in youth unemployment due to high turnover.
Temporary and non-standard contracts rose between 2008 and 2012. In 2012, 58% of all hiring was through temporary contracts, most of them involuntary, showing that jobseekers are forced to accept temporary or part-time positions. In ‘elementary occupations’, more than 70% of people recruited were on temporary contracts.
Occupations with higher level skills largely dominate the fastest growing professions. Software and sales professionals, as well as personal care workers and nurses in the health services show robust growth in employment.
Jobs requiring low to intermediate skills, in particular those requiring manual skills, were among those with the largest decline in employees between 2011 and 2012. The fall in employee numbers was particularly sharp in the construction sector (-17% on average in the EU, but -50% in Greece, Ireland, Lithuania and Spain) and in manufacturing industry (-10% on average in the EU, but -20% or more in the same countries).
For more information
http://europa.eu/rapid/press-release_IP-14-700_en.htm
News item on DG Employment website
Monitoring the job market in EU
Follow László Andor on Twitter
Subscribe to the European Commission’s free e-mail newsletter on employment, social affairs and inclusion
