To fill existing knowledge gaps, since 2013 Eurofound has been exploring the characteristics of emerging forms of employment in EU Member States. The research looks at the implications for working conditions and the labour market.
Categorising new forms of employment
In 2015, Eurofound conducted a Europe-wide mapping exercise to identify emerging trends. This exercise led to the categorisation of nine broad types of employment forms that are new or have become increasingly important in European Member States since 2000: employee sharing, job sharing, voucher-based work, interim management, casual work, ICT-based mobile work, platform work, portfolio work and collaborative employment. A range of case studies, carried out as part of the study, show how these new employment forms operate in Member States and their effects on working conditions and the labour market.
In 2020, Eurofound conducted a follow-up review of new forms of employment which tracked their scale, scope and incidence and highlighted their increasing relevance for European labour markets.
New trends emerging
Eurofound continues to examine in more detail some of the new trends identified. Research in 2016 looked in particular at the win–win potential of strategic employee sharing for both employers and employees. In 2020, a study on telework and ICT-mobile work (T/ICTM) analysed the implications of these arrangements on employment and working conditions.