European workers are satisfied with their working conditions, due largely to improved job security, a positive working atmosphere and good opportunities to learn and grow, the first findings of the fourth European Working Conditions Survey show. However, working conditions vary considerably between individual Member States, between ‘old’ and ‘new’ Member States and also between sectors, women and men and different age groups.
The services sector continues to grow in importance in the European labour market, employing around 66% of workers in the 25 EU Member States and in Bulgaria and Romania, the two EU candidate countries. The percentage of workers employed in both manufacturing and agriculture is declining; manufacturing now accounts for 29% of employment and agriculture just 5%. The proportion of workers who use computers at least a quarter of the time in Europe has increased from 31% in 1991 to 47% in 2005.
There has been a consistent decline over the past 15 years in the number of workers who consider their health and safety to be at risk because of their work, from 31% in 1991 to 27% in 2005. There are, however, big differences between the former EU15 countries (25%) and the new Member States (40%).
‘These first results from the European Working Conditions Survey show that although there is a definite scope for increasing productivity in Europe, policymakers are continuously challenged to reach the goals of improved employment levels and quality of work as laid out in the Lisbon criteria,’ says Jorma Karppinen, the Foundation’s director. ‘A majority of European workers report that work is interesting and offers new opportunities to learn, but access to training has not increased, particularly not for older workers, which indicates slow growth in life-long learning initiatives.’
Over the last 15 years, the percentage of workers in high-skilled white-collar occupations has risen from 32% to 38%. High-skilled white-collar jobs now account for 40% or more of the jobs in Belgium, Denmark, Finland, Germany, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Sweden, and the United Kingdom. There are, however, substantial differences in the levels of training that employers provide, ranging from 6%–10% in the 10 new Member States and the two acceding countries, to around 40% in northern Europe.
The survey shows that while women continue to move into certain categories of occupations (medium- or low-skilled service jobs such as clerical workers and service and sales workers) the proportion of workers whose immediate boss is a woman has consistently increased over the last 10 years. In the 10 new Member States, the proportion of female managers is higher than in the EU15 (29% as against 24%). The pay gap between men and women shows no signs of closing, with around half of all women in the EU25 countries firmly positioned in the lower third of the overall income scale.
Some four out of five workers (80%) say they are satisfied with their work–life balance although more than 44% of those working long hours – over 48 hours a week – report being unhappy with their work–life balance. Men, particularly working fathers, report more dissatisfaction with their work–life balance than women. Standard working hours still appear to be the norm for most workers in Europe. Working hours for the majority of the EU27 workforce revolve around a five-day, 40-hour week. Over 55% of all workers work the same number of hours every day, and over 70% work the same number of days every week. The proportion of people working non-standard hours (working at night or at weekends) has fallen slightly since 1995.
The Foundation’s European Working Conditions Surveys, conducted every five years, provide a valuable insight into quality-of-work issues since 1990. The fourth survey presents the views of workers on a wide range of issues including work organisation, working time, equal opportunities, training, health and wellbeing and job satisfaction. The interviews were carried out in late 2005 with nearly 30,000 workers in 31 countries (the EU25, the two acceding countries, Bulgaria and Romania, as well as Croatia, Norway, Switzerland, and Turkey).
The full report of the fourth European Working Conditions Survey will be available on 15 February 2007.
Source: http://www.eurofound.eu.int/
