Europeans Expect Layoffs to Get Worse

Spanish Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero discusses the unemployment rate in Spain which is almost twice the eurozone average. (Jaime Reina/AFP/Getty Images)

GOTHENBURG, Sweden—Currently most Europeans are pessimistic about the employment situation in Europe, and many are concerned about losing their jobs, says a new study by the European Commission (EC) for employment and social affairs.

“The majority of Europeans thinks the main impact of the [economic] crisis on jobs is yet to come,” said EC Spokesperson Katharina von Schnurbein, who presented the results of the study in Brussels on July 24.

The unemployment rate in the European Union (EU) for the first quarter 2009 is 8.4 percent, and the latest figures from the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) indicate the potential risk of reaching double digits.

Concern over unemployment varies significantly in the 27 European countries, with the people in the Baltic States showing the highest level of pessimism while people in Sweden, Denmark, and Finland are more optimistic.

“In countries with a comprehensive ‘flexicurity’ approach…for example in Sweden and Denmark, substantially more people tend to think that the worse is behind us,” said Katharina von Schnurbein.

“Flexicurity” is a welfare state model in which the process of hiring and firing workers is made easier, while the dismissed enjoy generous compensation. The model, originally from Denmark, makes the labor market more flexible for the employer and secure for the worker.

“People in flexible markets are more confident to find a job when they lose it,” she said.

More than 90 percent of the employed in Sweden, Denmark, and Finland are confident about keeping their jobs.

A change of attitude regarding the type of work could be observed in the current unfavorable labor market. One in four unemployed would accept any job, which is significantly higher, compared to one in five in the previous study in 2006.

The most important merits for finding a job in hard times are professional experience, qualification, and flexibility, according to the survey. Youths, aged 18-24, are the hardest hit group.

The EU has launched a 200 billion euro recovery plan in November last year to curb the economic crisis. Direct measures to tackle unemployment include microcredit schemes for people who want to start their own business and the European Social Fund (ESF) for financing the training of workers facing layoffs.