According to the latest Eurostat figures, over 26 million citizens in the EU-27 – 10.9% of the working-age population – were unemployed in June 2013. This is up 0.4% from the year before, a period over which US unemployment went down from 8.2 to 7.6%.
Combine this trend with the likes of industry restructuring and relocation towards low-wage economies, an ageing population that challenges Europe´s pension systems, a growing gap between education and access to jobs, as well the as the increasingly precarious nature of jobs, and you get yourself quite a dangerous cocktail.
As a means to answer some of the fundamental questions regarding Europe´s future job market, the CHANGINGEMPLOYMENT (´The changing nature of employment in Europe in the context of challenges, threats and opportunities for employees and employers´) project was kicked off on 24 May at the University of Gothenburg, Sweden.
This Marie Curie International Training network will see an eminent team of specialist supervisors – as well as an experienced researcher dedicated to dissemination and outreach – support 15 researchers (12 PhD students and three post-doctoral). They will be helped in this endeavour by eight European universities as well as social and industry partners, including the European Trade Union Institute, Consultingeuropa, EDF, Edrington, the International Labour Organisation, Neuroedukacja, UNISON, Volvo and CAIRDE.
The work of the programme will be explored under three key themes:
- Management and Employees Theme
- Inclusion and Exclusion Theme
- Employee Wellbeing and Work Life Quality
The programme will feature attendance at both twice yearly seminars at participating European partner universities and institutions, participation at regular theme seminars, and an annual network colloquium. The ESRs and ERs will participate in one of the three above-referenced themes, working with other Fellows across the 48 months of the programme. This is a distinctive opportunity to participate in, and develop within, a highly imaginative international social science training network, developing research practice and state of the art engagement with global practitioners in private and public sector institutions and trade unions.
