Labour mobility in the spotlight European Job Days 2007

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1 Successful Job Days Europe 2007 The Job Days Europe 2007 attracted all over Europe people interested in finding out more about labour mobility opportunities, during events ranging from traditional job fairs to seminars and lectures. The, its EURES network and the participating EU Member States made a concerted effort to inform European citizens about the merits of working and living abroad. The diverse events, organised under the umbrella of the Job Days Europe initiative, were a high-profile occasion for jobseekers, employers and other interested participants to exchange their views and concerns about labour mobility, share their experiences of working in another country, and get up-to-date information about the requirements for living and working abroad. EURES Advisers played an active role in these events, being on-hand to answer questions and queries as they arose. Danish and French colleagues were particularly mobile and were joined by employers and other partners on the day, visiting sites in Poland, Germany and France to meet local jobseekers and to provide them with first-hand labour market information and on-site job interviews. The Job Days Europe 2007 succeeded in presenting EURES as a support and information network and as a reliable partner for Europe s citizens. The upto-date website, in partnership with the EURES Advisers, helps to solve any problem areas related to labour mobility, answering a host of questions about working or recruiting abroad. Those who participated in the 2007 events have hopefully found our services to be useful and efficient. Other readers are warmly invited to attend next year s events to learn more about moving, living and working abroad. Johan ten Geuzendam Head of Unit Labour mobility in the spotlight European Job Days 2007 More than 200,000 people from 230 cities across Europe took part in the European Job Days 2007 from September 2007, in a series of 500 events promoting workers mobility abroad. The event in Brussels was opened by the world s number one female tennis player, Justine Henin, who encouraged the 5,000 participants to take advantage of the European labour market when local job openings are in short supply, or if they are looking for a new professional challenge. Other successful events included the Vienna Mobility Fair, which offered a one day crash course in work and education mobility across the EU. Visitors could also learn more about opportunities to work in the EU institutions and possibilities for entrepreneurs to get support for their businesses across borders. In addition, a large team of EURES Advisers were on site to answer questions and queries from both jobseekers and employers. EURES Vienna also invited a number of partners to showcase information stands and to chat to participants about the specific mobility-related services they offered. These include the promotion of a standardised Europass template (CV, language passport, mobility experience, educational and vocational qualifications), as well as the participation in mobility programmes for students (SOCRATES) and for those seeking vocational education and training (LEONARDO). One of the least conventional initiatives was the EURES Denmark Info Bus Tour. The mobile crew consisted of Danish EURES Advisers and employers, who had travelled throughout ten cities in Poland and Germany to promote the country s labour market and available job openings. Previously, Arriva Skandinavien S.A. - one of the participating companies - had faced a shortage of drivers for their public transport services. The company received over 500 applications from potential employees during and shortly after the tour, selecting 40 jobseekers for interviews. To overcome the language barrier Arriva proposed that, while attending intensive Danish courses, the newly arrived employees who had already begun their job as drivers wore badges saying Sorry, I don t speak Danish. Overall, this innovative measure has demonstrated how successful job mobility can be in practice, forging new partnerships, mobilising jobseekers from Germany and Poland to meet a keen demand, and proving that the language barrier was only a short-term obstacle. In addition, EURES Bulgaria organised its first-ever international Job Days event with Bansko, Bulgaria s premier ski resort, playing host to an impressive number of visitors. The event mainly focused on the country s booming tourism sector. After highlighting their need for qualified staff, Bulgarian employers learned how they can go about hiring workers from abroad. EURES representatives from all over Europe reported on the availability of staff in their respective countries and informed Bulgarian jobseekers about relevant vacancies. Overall, the 2007 European Job Days confirmed the EU s commitment to provide more and better jobs for Europe s citizens and to encourage work mobility. For many jobseekers, the Job Days have been a first step towards a potentially life changing opportunity. For the opportunity to become a reality, EURES Advisers are constantly providing administrative and legal support to make sure that working abroad is an accessible, enriching experience for mobile workers. The Newsletter «EURES & You» is intended to provide users of the EURES portal with information on current topics and trends and to stimulate discussion and debate. The contents do not necessarily reflect the view of the. 1

2 > Cause for concern: Labour shortage in new EU Member States While thousands of their workers are employed in the Western European countries, several Member States in Central and Eastern Europe are facing serious labour shortages. The current lack of skilled and unskilled workers could impede further growth and job creation, according to a report published by the World Bank in September However, some labour resources have still not been utilised sufficiently, with younger and older people among those without jobs. Many people of working age are economically inactive, either because they lack skills demanded by employers, or because of labour supply disincentives, the report asserts. The World Bank s experts suggest three key steps for Central and Eastern European governments to overcome both of these problem areas, as well as the unemployment rate among certain demographic groups. The report outlines a series of measures to reform social security systems, improve workers skills through changes to the current educational systems and suggests importing skilled workers to the areas with the highest levels of labour shortages. For more information, visit: > Impasse reached on disputed EU workers rights bills The Portuguese EU Presidency is looking to make a breakthrough on two major pieces of legislation dealing with workers rights, namely the working time and the temporary agency work directives. It is widely agreed that the EU s current law governing working time needs to be modified, but its revision has been blocked by divisions over whether countries should be allowed to have an exemption from the current working time limit of 48 hours per week. Meanwhile, talks concerning the rules on temporary work have been on hold since 2004, mainly because of differences over the social rights of temporary workers. The biggest differences revolve around the issue of the so-called grace period. This term refers to temporary workers, or temps, employed by agencies to work in various companies that pay less than workers would otherwise be if employed directly by the firms themselves. The EU Commission proposes a six week period, during which the principle of equal treatment for temps on the question of pay would not apply. Some Member States are calling for equal treatment on pay to apply from the outset of a temporary contract, while other Member States are seeking a considerably longer grace period of up to 12 months. > Reforms needed to keep older workers on the labour market Industrialised nations will be facing skills and labour shortages if they do not reform their policies for retaining mature workers in the production process, confirms a study published by the American Association of Retired Persons. The percentage of the G7 s population considered to be of prime working age (15 to 49 years old) will decline from 51% a decade ago to 44% by The study also claims that more than 60% of the respondents consider age discrimination as the main barrier to the creation of new jobs. Due to booming economies and less dramatic demographic change, the UK is one of the best positioned European countries to meet this challenge, with Germany and France steadily catching up. The study also warns that Italy should focus more on these issues since it faces rapidly ageing populations, growing longevity and low birth rates. > New guide for mobile European workers published A new European Trade Union Confederation (ETUC) guide for mobile workers aims to provide a better understanding of the legal and practical aspects of living and working conditions in the EU. Many mobile workers find the complex legal framework too difficult to understand. As well as informing readers about labour regulations, and the rights and responsibilities of mobile workers, the ETUC guide provides practical taxation advice in areas where the EU has so far had little impact. In addition, a number of important European treaties, regulations and directives are explained, as well as the bilateral treaties preventing double taxation within EU Member States. To view the guide, visit: (in DE, EN, FR) > Upcoming events > 5-6 December: People with disabilities: Active players in the Internal Market, Brussels ( employment_social/events/2007/eddp/ introductionpaper.pdf ) > 6-7 December: Conference on multiple discrimination, Copenhagen, Denmark ( fundamental_rights/pdf/events/dk/ dkconfprog_en.pdf ) > 7 December 2007: Conference on Corporate Social Responsibility: CSR at the global level: what role for the EU? Brussels ( events/2007/event_1025/csr_prog_ en.pdf ) 2

3 > Beyond borders: A journey to the heart of Europe It is a modern student dilemma: How can I build up my CV with useful work experience? Shall I apply to go abroad, or shall I stay closer to home? What will I learn from life in a different culture? Are my language skills up to the task? With those issues in mind, what were the odds that a Finnish student living in Helsinki would end up moving to and working in a small Slovakian town near the Polish border? After an internship in a EURES office in Slovakia, Anna-Riikka Kauppinen, a student of social and cultural anthropology at the University of Helsinki, says that the decision to study and work abroad is one of the best anyone could make. When leaving Finland at the beginning of July, she didn t know much about Slovakia let alone Stará Ľubovňa, the small town near the Polish border that she would call home for the duration of the internship. With an academic background in regional EU development, Anna-Riikka was selected to take part in the traineeship based on a mutual agreement between the Centre for International Mobility (CIMO) in Finland and the Ministry of Labour, Social Affairs and Family in Slovakia. Every year, CIMO launches a call for applications for Finnish students wanting to experience a traineeship abroad. To that end, CIMO works closely with partners in Member States across the EU such as the Slovakian Ministry of Social Affairs, which also send students to Finland and are responsible for placing incoming students at relevant organisations in Slovakia. The two months Anna-Riikka spent as a trainee in the EURES office in Stará Ľubovňa have proven to be an enriching personal and professional experience, working with new colleagues, learning the Slovak language and applying her theoretical background in regional EU development in practice. From her very first day, Anna-Riikka could see that the town had a transnational social system. Most of the families she met in the town had at least one member working abroad and many of the jobseekers coming to EURES had impressive employment records from various countries. She also had the opportunity to broaden her knowledge of the socioeconomic situation in the area, visiting Roma villages and undertaking anthropological fieldwork in a Roma School in Lomnicka, Slovakia, where she interviewed teachers and local families. Stará Ľubovňa Anna-Riikka provided useful information and advice to jobseekers interested in working and living abroad and contributed with research to a project on the cross-border partnership between Slovakia and Poland, within the framework of a future Slovakian Employment Services project said Veronika Vilčeková, Anna- Riikka s coordinator in the EURES office. She also explained that the working language for Anna-Riikka was English, but she considerably improved her knowledge of Slovakian. When asked if she enjoyed her stay in Slovakia, Anna-Riikka enthused that she benefited greatly from her work experience in a multicultural environment, met many genuine and friendly Slovakians and visited some culturally interesting places. For those reasons, she would recommend such a traineeship to anyone interested in living and working abroad in a new, different environment. In her opinion, visiting, studying or working in a foreign country also helps people to appreciate life in their home country from a different perspective. Indeed, it can often be useful for EU citizens to gain valuable experiences beyond their own borders in order to better understand themselves, their own languages and cultures, and those of other Europeans. Would you like to know more? Around 1,500 work placements or traineeships are arranged each year through the Centre of International Mobility (CIMO) from Finland. Around 36% of those taking part are Finns, with the remainder taken from abroad. After years of successful traineeship exchanges with Western European Countries, such as the United Kingdom and France, EU enlargement has given CIMO the opportunity to source new partners in Eastern and Central European countries. For more information and contact details, see: mainpage/mainpage.htx (in EN, FI and SE) 3

4 > Support services for migrant workers in difficulty The European Migrant Workers Union (EMWU) based in Germany, is the first European trade union movement to provide posted and seasonal migrant workers with support services. From legal assistance and advice, what to do in the event of sickness or an accident, and better accommodation and pay, are just some of the services we provide. So far the EMWU supported migrant workers in construction and agriculture, working for a limited period of time in one or several EU Member States, but in the future this service will be extended to other sectors. In many countries the labour laws are in favour of workers rights, but in practice workers rarely benefit from these laws due to constraints such as language barriers as well as the cost and time involved in taking legal action. In response to this need the EMWU provides practical help by negotiating directly with employers - often reaching agreements without taking the case to court. In the startup period, the organisation concentrated its activities on Polish migrant workers, the largest group amongst the estimated 50,000 posted workers and 200,000 seasonal workers from Eastern Europe working with a legal permit in Germany. contracts indicating lower earnings than originally promised. These are some of the reasons why in the last few years more Polish people are choosing to live and work in the UK and Scandinavian countries, where salaries and working conditions are generally better. At the same time the labour market in Poland is continually growing with wage increases of 15%, which is attracting new workers from the Ukraine and Belarus. The main barrier for workers mobility and rights in Europe is a linguistic one. Europe is suffering because of the many languages used. A migrant worker who only speaks Polish is not able to talk to a lawyer and benefit from legal status. Employees working in construction or in agriculture generally do not have access to the internet, neither to consult EUROPE s databases, nor to make use of their rights. Support services, such as the ones offered by the European Migrant Workers Union, play a vital role so the European Union funding is essential in developing and modernising these services. Matthias Kirchner, the Secretary General of the European Migrant Workers Union For more information: The European Migrant Workers Union aims to set up offices in both the countries of origin and the recipient countries of migrant workers providing services in various languages. The next office will be opened shortly in Poland. Two of the main problems migrant workers previously encountered upon arrival in a new country, were fictitious companies and Matthias Kirchner Concrete steps taken by Europeans before moving to another country Something else Sold property/cancelled rental contract Applied for a work permit Looked for a place to live Applied for jobs Obtained information about moving Improved your skills or qualifications Learned a language No steps taken yet NMS 12 EU 25 Source: Eurobarometer 281 Geographical Mobility of Citizens EURES & You is published six times a year by DG Employment, Social Affairs & Equal Opportunities of the. DG EMPL D.3 - EURES BE-1049 Bruxelles/Brussel empl-eures@ec.europa.eu EURES News and Information Bureau c/o Gellis Communications Rue des Echevins 80 BE-1050 Bruxelles/Brussel euresnews@gellis.com 4

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