Europe at work: Better life and opportunities for all – Four-year work programme 2009-2012

The year 2012 marks the last year of Eurofound’s four-year 2009–2012 work programme Europe at work: Better life and opportunities for all. The drivers of change listed in the four-year-programme – globalisation, technological change, climate change and the demographic challenge – remain, but due to the financial and economic crisis, emphasis has shifted, and the impact of the crisis as well as the issues of stimulating growth and job creation have gained prominence. While continuing to focus on the completion of work under the current 4 year programme, the discussion on the priorities for the next four years will be a key part of Eurofound’s strategic work during 2012.

The four drivers of change identified in Eurofound’s 2009-2012 work programme, globalisation, demographic change, technological change and climate change, remain challenges at global and European levels. These challenges are reflected in the Europe 2020 strategy. The demographic changes in particular are amplified in dealing with the impact of the recession. The impact of the economic and employment crisis sees greater emphasis on some socio-economic priorities, such as: Measures to stimulate job creation, competitiveness and employment; Labour market activation, youth employment and ageing workforce; Structural reforms in Member States to ensure long-term sustainability of their public finances and social protection systems; Reducing poverty and social exclusion. Against this background Eurofound will address in 2011 the growing challenges for: Sustainable, efficient and effective public sector; and Job creation, European structural weaknesses and competitiveness developments.

This is the second annual programme of the four-year period and continues Eurofound’s work in the following three research focus areas: employment growth and supply of labour in changing labour markets, more and better jobs and higher productivity through partnership, and promotion of social inclusion and sustainable social protection. The 2010 programme gives more emphasis to the impacts of the current economic and financial crisis on the employment, working conditions and quality of life of Europeans. It will include crisis-related research on restructuring, labour markets and wages as analysed by the new European Jobs Monitor and studies on flexicurity. Longer-term impacts of the recession will be examined in the context of the combined effects of recession and demographic change, as well as studies of new forms of corporate ownership and governance; the impacts of the recession on social dialogue structures will also be considered.

2009 is the first year of the four-year programme 2009–2012, which is designed to produce comparative analysis and forward looking studies of the impact of the key drivers of change: globalisation, technological innovation, demographic trends and climate change on living and working conditions in Europe. The programme aims to identify practical approaches and best practices to directing changes successfully as Europe moves towards the post-Lisbon era.