Subscribe
There are many and varied ways in which the European Union affects the labour market of its Member States. The EU should aim at creating jobs, limiting the gaps as much as possible and making sure to not provide for stringent rules and regulations that would limit the possibility of companies to become active in the labour market. But in order to analyse the outlook, one has to start from the state of the art, from the 2023 employment figures provided by Eurostat last March.
EMPLOYMENT DATA IN THE EUROPEAN UNION
Let us start with the figure for employment between the ages of 20 and 64. In the European Union the average number of employed persons in this age group is 75.4%. Within this percentage, it is necessary to analyse male employment, which comes to 80%, while female employment stops at 70.2% – a gap of almost ten percentage points. Compared to the previous year (the figures are for 2023, so we are talking about 2022), the employment rate for men in the European Union grew by 0.5%, while for women it grew by 0.9% in one year. Especially with regard to women’s employment, it should be noted that 9.1 percentage points have been recovered over the last ten years. This growth bodes well, but it is still too low to yield appreciable results in the medium term.
TRAINING, ENTERPRISES AND EMPLOYMENT
In the light of the data, it is clear that entry into the world of work, as well as the upgrading of one’s professional skills and eventual reintegration, must pass through unavoidable factors on which the governments of the Member States, supported by truly proactive European policies, must influence. In particular, the elements to be taken into consideration are the training of workers (at whatever stage of their working career they may be), the role played by companies on the labour market, and employment-related policies. It is with these three points in mind that we must approach this issue and the dynamics associated with it within the European Union.
SIMPLIFYING ADMINISTRATION AND BUREAUCRACY
The guiding star, at this juncture, can only be simplification as an element of support for entrepreneurship and innovation. Simplifying regulations, also by promoting public-private partnerships, makes it easier for companies to invest in human capital and new hires. What is needed, therefore, is a limitation of the administrative and bureaucratic burden currently arising from European regulations. It is mainly micro, small and medium-sized enterprises that are currently paying the price. It is precisely for them that we must work on the effective application of the Small Business Act and the “one in, one out” principle, i.e. no new law without an impact assessment on the lives of businesses. Moreover, one cannot but think of the importance that professionals have in the working fabric of every country. It is therefore necessary to put them on an equal footing with companies in terms of incentives and support.
ENERGY AND ENVIRONMENT AT THE HEART OF EMPLOYMENT
The European green turn cannot go without employment. Thus, the labour market must also be oriented towards sustainability, but without negatively affecting the lives of citizens and the economies of the Member States. Therefore, policies are needed to encourage the creation of new jobs, but always in view of the many economic and environmental challenges facing the future of the Union. Once again, support must be directed first and foremost at micro, small and medium-sized enterprises, especially with a view to countering rising energy costs and volatile raw material prices linked, for example, to the highly uncertain international situation. It is with this in mind that Member States must return to recognising the role and social utility of neighbourhood work and enterprises. Only in this way we can trigger a positive process to protect cities and territories from degradation. The local valorisation of work will, therefore, inevitably depend on the traditions and unique characteristics present in each territory.
EMPLOYMENT OF THE YOUNGEST
Finally, the issue that must be of most concern in the coming decades is that of youth employment and policies aimed at strengthening it. Incentives to entrepreneurship (especially among young people) and to companies that hire young people, and the training in schools in relation to the world of work, are issues that cannot be left behind by the new European institutions. In particular, tax relief for companies that create new jobs must become the central element of European policies.