Workshop on the flexibility at the
labour market
Flexicurity in EU
Ankara, 21 February 2011
Anette Björnsson
DG EMPL – Employment Analysis
European Commission
Overview of presentation
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Flexicurity in EU
Components of Flexicurity
Principles of Flexicurity
Flexicurity at the core of the EU policies
Flexicurity pathways
Flexicurity and Turkey
Flexicurity in times of crisis in EU MS
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Flexicurity in the EU
• The flexicurity is today one of the corner
stones of the Europe 2020 being part of the
guideline no. 7 and the flagship New skills and
jobs
• The principles and methods behind the
flexicurity policy can be found in the
Communication 2007/0359
• Flexicurity is a well developed model in some
EU countries like Denmark, the Netherlands,
and Sweden.
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Components
• – Flexible and reliable contractual arrangements (from the
perspective of the employer and the employee, of ''insiders''
and ''outsiders'') through modern
• labour laws, collective agreements and work organisation;
• – Comprehensive lifelong learning (LLL) strategies to
ensure the continual adaptability and employability of
workers, particularly the most vulnerable;
• – Effective active labour market policies (ALMP) that help
people cope with rapid change, reduce unemployment
spells and ease transitions to new jobs;
• – Modern social security systems that provide adequate
income support, encourage employment and facilitate
labour market mobility. This includes broad coverage of
social protection provisions (unemployment benefits,
pensions and healthcare) that help people combine work
with private and family responsibilities such as childcare.
Principles
• Involves flexible and reliable contractual
arrangements
• Balance between rights and responsibilities
• Adapted to the specific circumstances
• Reduce the divide between the insiders and
outsiders
• Internal as well as external flexicurity should be
promoted
• Support gender equality
• Climate of trust and dialogue between public
authorities and social partners
• Contribute to sound and financially sustainable
budgetary policies
Guideline 7 of the integrated guidelines
• Increasing labour market participation and
reducing structural unemployment
• integrate the flexicurity principles with
a view to
– increasing labour market participation
– combating
• segmentation and inactivity,
• gender inequality,
• whilst reducing structural unemployment
The components of guideline 7
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introduce a combination of
flexible and reliable employment contracts,
active labour market policies,
effective lifelong learning,
policies to promote labour mobility, and
adequate social security systems to
secure professional transitions
accompanied by
• clear rights and responsibilities for the
unemployed to actively seek work.
Undeclared work important
• tackle labour market segmentation
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• measures addressing temporary and
precarious employment,
underemployment and undeclared
work.
Flagship ‘An agenda for new skills
and jobs’
• The four main priorities:
• New momentum for flexicurity
• Equipping people with the right
skills for employment
• Improving the quality of work and
working conditions
• Supporting job creation
Flagship ‘An agenda for new skills
and jobs’
• Flexicurity: 10 proposed priorities:
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Focusing on the reduction of segmentation in the labour market (EPL).
Weight on internal flexibility in times of economic downturn (EPL)
Improving access to lifelong learning (LLL)
Adopting targeted approaches for the more vulnerable workers (LLL)
Enhancing stakeholders' involvement and social dialogue (LLL)
Establishing effective incentives and cost sharing arrangements (LLL)
Adapting ALMP mix and their institutional setting to reduce LTU (ALMP)
Reforming unemployment benefit systems to adjust to business cycle
(SSS)
Improving benefits coverage for those most at risk of unemployment
(SSS)
Reviewing the pension system (SSS)
The 4 pathways
• 1: Tackling contractual segmentation
• 2: Developing flexicurity within the
entreprise and offering transition
security
• 3: Tackling skills and opportunity
gaps among the workforce
• 4: Improving opportunties for benifit
recipients and informally employed
workers
Pathway 1:
Tackling contractual segmentation
• Characteristics:
– Main problem is the segmentation of the
labour market into insiders and outsiders
– The new more flexible working contracts
create a trap keeping the employees in shortterm contracts
• Proposed solutions:
– Need for more ALMP
– Need for more resources at the PES
– More focus on the people experiencing
frequently unemployment spells
– LLL for people working in short term contracts
Pathway 2:
Developing flexicurity within the entreprise
and offering transition security
• Characteristics
– The labour market is characterised by low job rotation
– The economy is usually characterised by big companies
which are creating higher job security
• Proposed solutions:
– Better opportunities for flexible arrangements
– Better cooperation between the stakeholders at the
labour market
– LLL important at company level
– PES to focus on long-term unemployed
– More conditions related to the payment of
unemployment benefit
Pathway 3:
Tackling skills and opportunity gaps among
the workforce
• Characteristics:
– high employment rate
– But specific groups like women, younger, older
workers are excluded from the labour market
• Proposed solutions:
– LLL very important in order to increase
education level
– PES’ role is to clarify the education level
thereby focusing the ALMP on the most
urgent needs (it should be more efficient to
employ low-skilled)
– More focus on primary education.
Pathway 4: benefit recipients and informally
employed
• Characteristics:
– Countries that have experienced economical reforms
– Many people are receiving social benefits which can be
characterised as labour market exit benefits
– Investment in ALMP is limited
– Gender specific differences exist
– High informal sector
• What needs to be changed:
– New job opportunities for unemployed
– Decrease/stop informal work
• Tools suggested are
– ALMP focusing on education and lifelong learning
– Benefits that have an adequate size
Main conclusions from an ETF report on
flexicurity in Turkey
• Turkey is on the way to use the flexicurity
principles
• Main obstacles are
– The large informal segment of the labour
market
– The fact that many people (from the formal
segment) are receiving social benefits, e.g the
many people receiving benefits for early
retirement
– The very low participation rate for women
– The high share of low-skilled people in the
workforce
Flexicurity in the times of crisis in EU MS
• Many Member States have
• temporarily introduced new publicly sponsored short-time
working arrangements, or have increased their level,
coverage and duration, and made their use more
manageable (increased internal flexibility)
• strengthened unemployment insurance systems (i.e. the
level of benefits, their duration, and their coverage for new
groups).
• Active labour market measures have increased, including
business start-up incentives, training and work experience
programmes.
• Public Employment Services provided more targeted jobsearch assistance for particular groups such as young
people, immigrants, workers on short-term contracts, the
newly redundant, or those not receiving benefits.
• In some countries, employment services raised their staffing
levels by 10% or more to cope with the rise in the number of
job seekers.
Thank you for your attention
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