Labour market analysis in the commerce sector: which are the key
challenges and factors of change?
1. Motivation of the project
Few industries have experienced greater change in their employment over the last few decades
than retail and wholesale, where highly varied forms of employment are becoming common
practice.
A wide range of factors are driving this process, from changes in economic circumstances and
consumer preferences, globalization, to advanced technological innovations and the new forms
of competition they have enabled, including an explosive growth in electronic commerce. In
many countries, wages in retail commerce are below the average for the economy as a whole
and the sector experiences a high labour turnover.
As part of their bi-annual work programme 2014-2015, EuroCommerce and UNI Europa, the
social partners of the commerce sector have a point entitled “Employment strategy and the
commerce sector”. In this context, they intend to discuss their contribution to the
implementation of the Employment Package, including new initiatives related to active labour
market policies, youth employment, apprenticeships, entrepreneurship, mobility, new forms of
employment and transitions in the labour market. They intended to analyse those issues also in
the face of new and emerging business models in the sector.
In addition, the sub-groups on working environment set up in the framework of the High Level
Group for Competitiveness of the retail sector in its report identified the need for more specific
data gathering on the impact of changing environment on commerce labour market.
A recommendation of the consensus points which emerged from the Global dialogue held in
Geneva the last 22-23 April and entitled : “The impact of employment relationships on
competitiveness and decent work in retail commerce” also suggests the social partners to pay
particular attention to research and comparative analysis, map good practices and share
knowledge on: the drivers of change; the employment-creation potential; the diversification of
employment relationships; SMEs and large retailers; e-commerce and digitalisation; and the
impact on decent work of non-standard forms of employment in retail commerce.1 During the
last social dialogue meeting which took place in May, social partners also exchanged views on
how to follow-up such consensus points at EU level and such a project seemed to go into the
right direction.
1
http://www.ilo.org/sector/Resources/publications/WCMS_363968/lang--en/index.htm
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Although the labour market of the EU commerce sector has always been characterised by a
variety of employment relationships and work arrangements, since the past decade the sector
has gone through major changes which had a profound impact on the labour market. Both
European social partners agreed that one of the main challenges for social partners in the
commerce sector at EU level is to gain a better understanding of the current core trends
regarding employment and work arrangements across Europe, and in particular in the light of
the huge economic and technological changes the sector is currently experiencing.
EuroCommerce and UNI Europa representatives are strongly interested in gathering,
disseminating and communicate sectoral employment data to raise awareness on the role of the
sector as the one of the biggest private employers. Actually, they are of the opinion that a better
understanding of the core employment trends at the European level will help EU social partners
to agree on a common agenda regarding sustainable employment and growth for the EU
commerce sector. Employers consider that sustainable employment and growth are dependent
upon, inter alia, the sector having a skilled workforce, the necessary funding and finance to
ensure the sector is able to provide a valued and quality service, and competitive resources and
labour costs in relation to trading partners. For the sector to be able to achieve the EU 2020
Vision, according to employers, social partners need to better understand the factors affecting
the sector including employment, the labour market, industrial relations, and technological
change.
Even if it is true that some reports on industrial relations, working conditions, skills and other
related issue already exist (Eurofound report and factsheets, employment chapter of the Oxirm
economic study, ILO report…), a sector-specific initiative led by the recognized EU social
partners on this issue would contribute significantly in making progress on issues on which social
partners have not yet found a consensus based approach.
As regards UNI Europa and their national trade union members, they notice a continuous
increase in new forms work arrangements. At the same time, digitalisation and fast
development of e-commerce has led to the emergence of new type jobs and working patterns.
Unions observe that new forms of work arrangements often fall in a grey zone and outside the
perimeter of traditional industrial relations systems. In addition, unions point to the risk of the
creation of a skills divide by limiting atypical workers' access to training and development
activities, thus endangering both professional standards and employability. According to the
unions, the impacts of these developments on the long-term economic and social sustainability
of the sector and the quality of jobs were so far not systematically analysed and assessed.
The European Commerce social partners agreed to carry out jointly a European project under
the call for proposals VP/2015/001. The aim of this project is to carry out a study describing in a
comprehensive, fact-based and objective manner the status quo of the commerce (and its
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above mentioned sub-sectors) labour market across several EU countries and of the changing
forms of employment and work arrangements in the sector. This analysis will be a substantial
contribution to inform future discussions of the members of the SSDC on future added-value
actions of social partners at EU level to meet the challenges of the labour markets in the EU
commerce sector. The study will support the SSDC in developing strategies and future actions
for an economically and socially sustainable growth and quality jobs in the EU commerce sector,
in line with the Europe 2020 Strategy (in this respect, see the joint contribution of the
commerce.social
partners
http://www.eurocommerce.eu/media/106639/common%20%20contribution%20EU2020.pdf )
The main activities of a joint EU project will therefore include the carrying out of a study
describing and analysing the EU commerce Labour Market and the changing forms of
employment and work arrangements. A final project seminar will allow EuroCommerce and UNI
Europa Commerce members s to present the outcome of this study and discuss about possible
future actions based on the main results of the analysis.
2. Objectives of project and link to budget heading
The project pursues several objectives:
- Collecting and analysing data on the labour market in the retail, wholesale/international
trade and e-commerce sectors to give an overview across the EU and look in detail at 10
EU countries, including changing forms of employment and work arrangements.
- Providing members of the Sectoral Social Dialogue Committee with an in-depth insight
into the features, characteristics and challenges of the labour market in commerce
across Europe and changing forms of employment and work arrangements.
- Developing further European social dialogue on the issue of challenges of the labour
market at sectoral level and on new forms of employment and work arrangements.
- Addressing the challenges of the commerce labour market and quality jobs in the sector
in the wider context of the overall EU employment and social policy challenges as laid
down in the Europe 2020 strategy.
The project objectives are in line with the primary aim of the call: the project is promoting social
dialogue at sectoral level and developing European social dialogue in its different dimensions, in
particular as regards information exchange and joint research. The project takes a transnational
approach of compiling and analysing essential data about the commerce labour market and
work arrangements in ten EU countries. This will allow for increased transparency as regards the
specific legal conditions of the different types of employment and work arrangements in the
commerce sector in different EU countries.and sub-sectors
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The project also relates directly to the objective of the call regarding the adaptation of social
dialogue to changes in employment and work, such as addressing modernisation of the labour
market, quality of work, anticipation, preparation and management of change and restructuring,
health and safety at work and decent work. It is also linked to another important point of the
work programme of social partners on anticipation of change. As mentioned, the commerce
sector is undergoing major changes across all EU countries, with an increasing occurrence of
changing forms of work arrangements. This has major direct impact on the quality of work, ,
health and safety at work and decent work.
The recovery from the crisis is also an important dimension that will be addressed, as the crisis
had a major impact on the labour market in the various commerce subsectors, despite of a
certain resilience compared to other economic ones.
3. Finally, commerce is a key player in the EU’s Digital Agenda, a flagship initiative in the
Europe 2020 strategy. Ensuring job quality and quality services feeds directly into the
European Commission’s work under the Digital Agenda. Implementation of the project
3.1. Preparation
The project will be led by a Project Steering Committee. It will prepare, all main activities.
The Project Steering Committee will be composed of the EU social partners, 3representatives
from the social partners of the EU Commerce Social Dialogue Committee and the external
expert once selected.
The Project Steering Committee will meet three times during the project period. It will select the
researcher following a public tender procedure and who will be in charge of carrying out the
study. It will also define the final scope and methodology for the study and review the quality of
the final study. The Project Steering Committee will also prepare the Final Project Seminar
where the results of the study will be presented and social partners in the commerce sector will
debate about possible future actions to address the challenges of the commerce abour market.
Finally, the Project Steering Committee will also be responsible for evaluating the project
activities and the results on an on-going basis.
At the start of the project the EU social partners will launch a public tender to select the
researcher in charge of carrying out the study. This will be done in accordance with the rules laid
down in the financial guidelines and the grant agreement The social partners in consultation
with their relevant members will evaluate the proposals put forward by the different
candidates, and finally award the contract in writing to the bid offering the best price-quality
ratio.
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The first steering committee will define the final methodology for the study, including the exact
scope of the study, the exact topics covered by the data collection, the methodology for data
analysis and cross-country analysis, the contact persons of national employers and trade unions
who will be interviewed in face-to-face interviews by the researcher.
3.2. The study
The study will be carried out by a researcher, following a public tender procedure. The project
partners consider that it is essential that the study is carried out by an “independent”
researcher, as data needs to be collected and analysed in an as much objective and neutral way
as possible. In addition, analysing the labour markets in the commerce sector demands a
thorough knowledge of labour market and industrial relations in the sector, as well as a sound
legal, economic and social policy background and in-depth experience and methodological
knowhow of compiling and analysing relevant data related to labour markets from across
Europe. The project applicants consider that this task needs to be carried out by an independent
researcher, ideally from a research unit of a university who has the experience to carry out
labour market analysis.
The study will enclose and analyses data and information on the following issues:
(1) Structure and major trends in the EU commerce sector
- Analysis of major types of organisations employing/ contracting work arrangements.
- Analysis of major trends over the past 5 years regarding main technological, economic
changes as well as re-structuring in the sector and possible future perspectives affecting
employment and work arrangements.
(2) Labour market analysis and changing forms of employment and work arrangements
- Mapping and description of the main types of employment and work arrangements in
the commerce sector in different EU countries. This includes full consideration of key
related aspects, such as social security benefits, working conditions and taxation.
- Figures and statistics for the different types of employment and work arrangement,
including how they have changed since 2008. Figures should ideally be broken down
according to age, gender, different professional categories, sub sectors
(wholesale/international trade, retail, e-commerce) as well as combined forms of
employment and work arrangements.
- Analysis of the major trends of professional mobility between different professions in
the commerce sector and between types of employment/ work arrangements in the
light of the structural and technological changes.
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(3) Industrial relations
- Description of how the terms and conditions of the different types of employment and
work arrangements are agreed upon and the role played in this respect by social
partners.
The study will provide an EU overview and then cover ten EU countries. The following countries
have been pre-Italy, Greece, France, Germany, Sweden, Finland, United Kingdom, Poland, Spain
and Turkey The finally selected countries will represent a fair balance between the different
sub-regions and sub-sectors in Europe and also include a candidate country where commerce
plays a relevant role in the economy
The researcher will collect data mainly through two different sources: desk research and face-to
face (and phone) interviews with representatives of employers’ and union federations.
The desk research will consist of compiling and analysing data in previously published reports
and studies relating to the labour market in the commerce sector in the targeted countries and
to changing forms of employment and work arrangements.
The face-to-face interviews will be carried out in the ten selected EU countries. The Project
Steering Committee will provide the researcher with the names and contact details of the
national employers’ and union representatives who can be approached for face-to-face
interviews. These interviews will allow to complete and widen the data collection. Interviews
with other relevant stakeholders in the countries will be added were appropriate.
The data collection will last in total 8 months, starting at month 5 (April 2016) of the project and
finishing in month 12 (November 2016).
A first draft version of the study will be presented during a workshop where representatives
from trade unions and employers’ organisation from the 10 countries selected for the study will
participate (November 2016). The group will provide detailed feedback on the quality of the
study to the researcher. The study will then be revised and submitted to the Steering Committee
during month 15 (February 2016) of the project.
The Steering Committee will meet at the end of the workshop to start the preparation for the
final conference.
The Steering Committee will meet for the second time and approve the revised draft version to
be presented during the project final conference (month 16, March 2016).
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The study will be published in English and an executive summary will be drafted and translated
in FR, DE, ES, IT, PL and GR.
3.3. The Final Project Seminar
The Project Steering Committee will meet during month 12 to start preparing the Final Project
conference, which will be held during month 17. The final conference will be lasting 1 day and
focus on the presentation of the main outcomes of the study to the national affiliates of the
employers’ and trade union federation in the commerce sector (balanced participation of the
sub-sectors especially on employer’s side). The seminar will provide the opportunity to present
in more detail the situation in several countries where particular interesting developments have
taken place in the labour market and changing forms of employment and work arrangements.
The seminar will also foresee space for unions and employers’ organisations to discuss possible
future actions to meet the challenges of the labour market and changing forms of employment
and work arrangements. Smaller working groups will be set up and a final plenary session to
exchange about ideas for future joint actions between social partners.
The wider context of the economic and social challenges of the 2020 Strategy will be taken into
account during the different sessions of the seminar.
The seminar’s agenda will follow the following rough structure:
Morning session:
- Presentation of the main outcomes of the study
- Keynote speech on the Europe 2020 strategy and the challenges of the labour market in
wholesale, retail and e-commerce
- Detailed presentation of the situation regarding the labour market and changing forms
of employment and work arrangements in several EU countries
- Discussion with seminar participants
Afternoon session:
- Working groups on future joint actions to meet the challenges of the labour market and
of changing forms of employment and work arrangements.
- Final plenary session, drawing main conclusions .
The final project seminar will be organised in Brussels, which will also provide an opportunity to
engage with stakeholders at European level, including the European Institutions. The seminar
will bring together some 40 to 50 participants and there will be five working languages: FR, EN,
DE, IT, ES,
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The study will be finalised following the seminar and discussion in the SSDC.
3.4. Outcomes and Follow-up
The results of the study and of the final project seminar will be discussed during the next SSDC
meeting who will decide about follow-up actions to address the challenges of the labour market
in the commerce sector and changing forms of employment and work arrangements.
The study will be widely disseminated to all national affiliates of European social partners of the
AV SSDC and other stakeholders in the commerce sector. Each of the project applicants and the
associate organisation will make the study available and through their main communication
channels (meetings, newsletters, social media, etc.)
4. Dissemination plans
The final project seminar will be an important moment to disseminate the results of the study
and will engage social partners in the EU commerce sector to exchange directly about the main
challenges in the commerce labour market and changing forms of employment and work
arrangements.
The study will be widely disseminated to all national affiliates of European social partners of the
commerce SSDC and other stakeholders in the commerce sector. Social partners and their
affiliate organisations will make the study available on their websites and through their main
communication channels (meetings, newsletters, social media, etc.). The study will be available
in electronic versionin English. The executive summary will be available in six languages, in FR,
DE, IT, ES, GR, PL
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5. Timetable of activities
The project will be carried out in a period over 19 months, with three distinct phases: a
preparatory phase, an implementation phase, and a follow-up phase.
(1) Preparatory phase: months 1- 5
Month
Action
Month 1-3
SP launch call for proposal for researcher
(December
2014February
2016)
Month 4
Social partners select project researcher in
(March
consultation with the steering committee
2016)
Month 5
1nd Steering Committee meeting to define
(April 2016)
with selected contractor the final scope of
the research methodology and final
structure of the study.
Outcome
Social partners analyse different
proposal received
Project researcher selected
Final research methodology
defined.
Final structure of the study
defined.
(2) Implementation phase: months 5-17
Month
Action
Outcome
Months
5-12
(April –
November
2016)
Month 12
(November
2016)
Data and information collected for
10 EU countries on labour market
analysis and changing forms of
employment and work
arrangements.
20 people to be informed about
preliminary findings of data
collection & interviews.
Months
10 -13
(September
- December
2016)
Researcher collects data through desk
research covering 10 EU countries and faceto-face interviews with union and employers’
representatives from 10 countries.
Intermediate workshop (November 2016):
Researcher presents preliminary findings of
data collection & interviews.
Project Steering Committee meeting decides
on agenda and participants of project
seminar.
Researcher to prepare draft version of the
study.
Agenda and invitations prepared
for Final Project Seminar.
Draft of study prepared.
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Month 13
(December
2016)
Researcher submits first draft version of
study to Steering Committee for comments.
Steering Committee to give final feedback to
researcher for finalisation of study.
First draft of study presented to
Steering Committee.
Feedback provided to researcher.
Month 15
(February
2017)
Revised draft version of study submitted to
Steering Committee.
Revised draft version submitted.
Month 16
(March
2017)
2nd meeting of Steering Committee to
approve the revised draft version of the
study (to be presented at the project
seminar) and finish preparation of project
seminar.
Revised approved version of the study
translated into FR. Executive summaries
translated into DE, IT, ES, PL
Project seminar organised in Brussels:
Study presented and discussed.
Discussion about follow-up actions.
Revised draft version of the study
approved by project partners.
Preparation of project seminar
finalised.
Revised and approved version of
study available in EN and FR.
Executive summaries available in
DE, IT, ES, PL.
Project seminar held.
Study presented to commerce
SSDC members and wider public.
Proposals for future joint actions
discussed.
Month 17
(April 2017)
(3) Follow-up phase: month 17-18
Month
Action
Outcome
Months 17
(April 2017)
SSDC discusses outcomes of the final study
and the project seminar and decides about
follow-up actions
Decision taken about follow-up
actions.
Month 18
(May-June
2017)
Study to be finalised following input received
during project seminar and Commerce SSDC
meeting.
Executive summaries adapted and finalised.
Final study disseminated amongst member
organisations of co-applicants, the EU
Commerce sector, and the wider public.
Project reporting
Final study available
Month 18 (May –
2017)
Final study disseminated widely.
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6. Expected results and outputs
-
-
-
A final study describing and analysing the labour market in the commercel sector in 10
EU countries as well as the changing forms of employment and work arrangements. The
study will be approximately 150 pages long (incl. annexes), written in English and
translated into French.
An executive summary of the study available in English, French, German, Italian, Spanish
and Polish.
A project seminar where the outcomes of the study will be presented to national
affiliates of the social partners of the Commerce SSDC and where they will discuss future
actions to meet the challenges of the labour market in the commerce sector and
changing forms of employment and work arrangements.
Dedicated follow-up discussion at the Commerce SSDC level to consider appropriate
possible future joint actions to address the changes and challenges in the commerce
labour market.
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