Green, Pink & Silver? The Future of Labour in Europe, Vol. 2
CPS research affiliates publish in the new volume of The Future of Labour in Europe by the Center for European Policy Studies.
European societies face profound global changes over the coming decades that will alter the nature of work and employment and require pro-active and anticipatory policy responses. In the latest CEPS paperback book, entitled Green, Pink and Silver? The Future of Labour in Europe, we pinpoint key industries and groups of people that pose the greatest challenges and offer the largest potential in terms of job prospects across Europe.
Since the start of the Great Recession, policy-makers wished for a 'green recovery'. Our research shows that the energy sector could become significantly more labour-intensive only if a rapid shift to renewable energy sources were to occur. In the transport sector, research reveals that no single transport-related policy could match the effectiveness of a general improvement in energy-efficiency standards while stimulating the labour market. For instance, the introduction of electric vehicles leads to environmental benefits, but has only a modest impact on job creation. Fuel-efficiency standards give a small boost to the labour market in some countries, but there is no universal evidence of a labour-market stimulus.
Sectors that are most likely to create more jobs are those related to the ageing of the European population in the so-called 'silver economy'. Social services, for instance, should be seen as an option for sustainable employment growth. Between 2009 and 2013 alone, the sector witnessed a net creation of 1.3 million jobs.
And the 'pink'? The previous two decades were a period of additional important changes in the position of women in European labour markets. Yet gender gaps still exists, despite the fact that most of the policy recommendations proposed and discussed are not new, and are already at the top of the agenda in EU countries. The effort to close the existing gaps therefore needs to come from policy-makers more than from researchers.
Vera Messing contributes a chapter on "Policy Puzzles with the Employment of Roma"; Violetta Zentai, Olena Fedyuk and Attila Bartha offer a chapter on "Immigrant Workers in European Domestic Care".
Green, Pink & Silver? The Future of Labour in Europe, Vol. 2 (Download)