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Kakovost delovnih mest
Kakovost delovnih mest dopolnjuje ukrepe v zvezi s količino delovnih mest za pridobitev ocene strategije zaposlovanja. Kakovost delovnih mest je večdimenzionalen koncept, pri katerem različni politični programi in discipline poudarjajo različne razsežnosti.
Pri večini Eurofoundovih raziskav se kakovost delovnih mest meri na ravni delovnega mesta. Vključuje značilnosti delovnega mesta, ki so zajete z objektivnega vidika, jih je mogoče opazovati in so povezane z izpolnjevanjem potreb, ki jih imajo ljudje v zvezi z delom. Obsega vse značilnosti dela in zaposlitve, ki so dokazano vzročno povezane z zdravjem in dobrim počutjem. Vključene so pozitivne in negativne značilnosti delovnih mest. Ti kazalniki odražajo vire na delovnem mestu (fizične, psihološke, socialne ali organizacijske vidike) in zahteve delovnega mesta ali procese, ki vplivajo nanje.
Workers will experience the effects of climate change in many ways: job insecurity, changes to their work tasks and responsibilities, and changes in their workplaces that may involve different work...
There is no one future of work for all jobs – policymakers will have their work cut out to ensure that remote and platform working, artificial intelligence and climate change...
Job quality and its improvement is an important policy concern, as quality jobs are crucial for higher labour force participation, higher well-being and increased economic performance. Job quality is also a key component in making work sustainable and enabling workers to remain motivated to remain in work for longer. It is central to the ILO’s Decent Work Agenda, the OECD’s jobs strategy and to the European Union’s quality of work policies to create more and better jobs. For workers, for the enterprises and organisations that employ them and for societies, there are benefits associated with high-quality jobs, and costs associated with poor-quality jobs.
International Labour Organization (ILO): Decent work
Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD): OECD Jobs Strategy
Job quality can be supported by a wide-ranging set of policies and actions at EU level, by national authorities and social partners, and within companies aimed at addressing the issues raised in the EWCS analysis of job quality indices and profiles and that support workers throughout their working lives.
By bundling practices that increase employee autonomy, facilitate employee voice and promote training and learning, businesses can boost performance while improving job quality.
Job quality can be improved by reducing excessive demands on workers and limiting their exposure to risks – and also by increasing their access to work resources that help in achieving work goals or mitigate the effects of these demands. Each dimension of job quality can also be improved through workplace practices and policies.
Workers and employers and their organisations each have a role to play in improving job quality; social dialogue is critical for devising policies in the workplace and beyond. Public authorities should regulate with the common goal of improving job quality in mind.
Being a manager is challenging for both women and men. To increase the attractiveness of managerial positions, job quality for all managers needs to be improved. Linked to this are difficulties in achieving a satisfactory work–life balance. Addressing the working time and work–life balance needs of managers increases the attractiveness of this function and also makes working as a manager more sustainable.
As some employment statuses are linked to poorer quality jobs, labour market policies aimed at addressing global economic competitiveness and combating high unemployment rates hence need to consider the potential effects for job quality.
Eurofound aims to consolidate the position of its European Working Conditions Survey (EWCS) as an important tool for benchmarking job quality in the European Union and beyond, feeding into policy development in the area of quality of work. The data have been used to carry out further research on various topics linked to job quality, including job quality in different work situations, job quality of different groups in the labour market, the impact of job quality on quality of working lives and in-depth analysis of individual dimensions of job quality. The European Company Survey 2019 (ECS 2019) also looks at different dimensions of job quality for workers and employers. Recent research has also looked into job quality in a global perspective.
Eurofound’s EWCS 2015, the sixth edition of the survey, provides an in-depth account of people’s current experience of work in Europe and an overview of working lives through the lens of job quality. The survey gathered detailed data on almost every aspect of working life, from working time to relationships with colleagues to opportunities for training.
To explore what the data say about job quality, Eurofound developed seven indices representing different dimensions of job quality, based on aspects of work that have an independent influence on health and well-being. These are:
Physical environment
Work intensity
Working time quality
Social environment
Skills and discretion
Prospects
Earnings
Those jobs that scored similarly on the seven job quality indices were grouped together in five job quality profiles: High flying, Smooth running, Active manual, Under pressure, Poor quality.
The data show a diverse and heterogeneous labour market, where one in five workers has a 'poor quality' job.
Eurofound's 2021 flagship report on working conditions and sustainable work sums up research on job quality in the past five years. It highlights the relevance of job quality to address challenges in the future: pyschosocial risks at work, ICT-based mobile work, fragmentation of work and the specific challenges in the era of COVID-19.
Company survey: Workplace practices and job quality
The European Company Survey (ECS) looks at workplace practices with regard to work organisation, human resource management and direct and indirect employee participation. These workplace practices are key determinants of the job quality of employees. The ECS 2019 examines job autonomy and complexity, the prevalence of part-time work and permanent contracts, the expectations management has of employees, the motivational drivers that are in place, the training and learning opportunities that are offered to employees, as well as the channels for, and impact of, direct and indirect employee participation. Both the ECS 2013 and the ECS 2019 show that establishments that have workplace practices that ensure good job quality also do better in terms of performance and workplace well-being.
Infographic: How good company practices impact on workplace well-being and performance
Only one-fifth of European companies find secret to combining optimal workplace well-being and business performance.
‘High investment, high involvement’ workplaces have the best outcomes for workers and employers, managing to boost performance and improve job quality.
Using EWCS data, Eurofound has collaborated with the ILO on a pioneering project to provide a comparative analysis of job quality covering approximately 1.2 billion workers in Europe, Asia and the Americas. It analyses the seven dimensions of job quality, finding both important differences and similarities between countries.
How different groups fare on job quality
Eurofound’s policy brief on women in management uses EWCS data to look at the diversity of job quality in management positions, analysing whether the working conditions of managers are better than those of non-managers and whether they are similar for women and men. Analysis of gender equality at work also highlights important gaps in men’s and women’s working conditions and job quality which require specific attention.
Research on working conditions of workers of different ages examines the role of job quality and other work-related factors in workers’ decisions and ability to remain in paid employment. Other research on working time patterns for sustainable work examines from a gender and life course perspective the links between working time patterns and organisation, working time quality and work–life balance, and health and well-being.
The research on working conditions in sectors examines trends in job quality from a sectoral perspective. Findings also reveal that workplace accommodation of the needs of workers with chronic disease can impact their job quality and the sustainability of work.
Determinants of job quality: Employment status, working time patterns
Eurofound’s policy brief on employment status uses EWCS data to investigate the job quality associated with different employment statuses in the EU Member States. The research explores the working conditions of five categories of self-employed and analyses their job quality.
Other research examines the working conditions and job quality associated with ICT-based mobile work and the impact of this form of work on quality of working lives.
Research also looks at human resource management and how employee involvement in decision-making can benefit organisations, helping to improve job quality and working conditions.
Impact of job quality
Research on working conditions and workers’ health examines the interplay between job demands and job resources which support workers in greater engagement and well-being. In terms of reconciling work and life, Eurofound examines the reciprocal relations between working conditions and job quality and people’s lives outside work, and what is most important for people in terms of work–life balance.
The EWCS 2015 demonstrates the positive relationship between each job quality index and worker's experience of the quality of working life in terms of: career and employment security, developing skills and competences, maintaining and promoting health and well-being, reconciling working and non-working life, work sustainability, and meaningful and motivating work.
Labour market change and job quality
Eurofound’s European Jobs Monitor (EJM) tracks structural change in European labour markets. It describes shifts in employment at Member State and EU level, analysing changes in terms of occupation and sector and the implications for job quality.
Mary McCaughey speaks with Eurofound Research Manager Jorge Cabrita about new research that highlights poor job quality - including high emotional demands, working at high speed and to tight deadlines...
Strogi ukrepi na področju javnega zdravja, ki so jih vlade leta 2020 uvedle za zajezitev pandemije covida-19, so nenadno spremenili naš način dela in nanj vplivali še v nadaljnjih dveh...
V tem glavnem poročilu so povzeti ključni izsledki raziskave Eurofounda o delovnih razmerah, ki je potekala v programskem obdobju 2017–2020. Opisan je napredek pri izboljšanju delovnih razmer po letu 2000...
To poročilo temelji na četrti evropski raziskavi podjetij (ECS), ki sta jo leta 2019 skupaj izvedla Evropska fundacija za izboljšanje življenjskih in delovnih razmer (Eurofound) in Evropski center za razvoj...
Megatrends, such as digitalisation, globalisation, demographic change and climate change, are transforming the world of work, with knock-on effects for working conditions and job quality. Against this background, this report...
The number of workers living with chronic health conditions is rising in the EU. Such conditions affect people’s ability to work to varying degrees. While some are unable to continue...
15 Oktober 2019
Publication
Policy brief
Ongoing work
Eurofound aims to consolidate the position of its European Working Conditions Survey (EWCS) as an important tool for benchmarking job quality in the European Union and beyond, feeding into policy development in the area of quality of work. The data have been used to carry out further research on various topics linked to job quality, including job quality in different work situations, job quality of different groups in the labour market, the impact of job quality on quality of working lives and in-depth analysis of individual dimensions of job quality. The European Company Survey 2019 (ECS 2019) also looks at different dimensions of job quality for workers and employers. Recent research has also looked into job quality in a global perspective.
Eurofound’s EWCS 2015, the sixth edition of the survey, provides an in-depth account of people’s current experience of work in Europe and an overview of working lives through the lens of job quality. The survey gathered detailed data on almost every aspect of working life, from working time to relationships with colleagues to opportunities for training.
To explore what the data say about job quality, Eurofound developed seven indices representing different dimensions of job quality, based on aspects of work that have an independent influence on health and well-being. These are:
Physical environment
Work intensity
Working time quality
Social environment
Skills and discretion
Prospects
Earnings
Those jobs that scored similarly on the seven job quality indices were grouped together in five job quality profiles: High flying, Smooth running, Active manual, Under pressure, Poor quality.
The data show a diverse and heterogeneous labour market, where one in five workers has a 'poor quality' job.
Company survey: Workplace practices and job quality
The European Company Survey (ECS) looks at workplace practices with regard to work organisation, human resource management and direct and indirect employee participation. These workplace practices are key determinants of the job quality of employees. The ECS 2019 examines job autonomy and complexity, the prevalence of part-time work and permanent contracts, the expectations management has of employees, the motivational drivers that are in place, the training and learning opportunities that are offered to employees, as well as the channels for, and impact of, direct and indirect employee participation. Both the ECS 2013 and the ECS 2019 show that establishments that have workplace practices that ensure good job quality also do better in terms of performance and workplace well-being.
See European Company Survey 2019 infographic.
Working conditions in a global perspective
Using EWCS data, Eurofound has collaborated with the ILO on a pioneering project to provide a comparative analysis of job quality covering approximately 1.2 billion workers in Europe, Asia and the Americas. It analyses the seven dimensions of job quality, finding both important differences and similarities between countries.
How different groups fare on job quality
Eurofound’s policy brief on women in management uses EWCS data to look at the diversity of job quality in management positions, analysing whether the working conditions of managers are better than those of non-managers and whether they are similar for women and men. Research on working conditions of workers of different ages examines the role of job quality and other work-related factors in workers’ decisions and ability to remain in paid employment. Other research on working time patterns for sustainable work examines from a gender and life course perspective the links between working time patterns and organisation, working time quality and work–life balance, and health and well-being.
Determinants of job quality: Employment status, working time patterns
Eurofound’s policy brief on employment status uses EWCS data to investigate the job quality associated with different employment statuses in the EU Member States. The research explores the working conditions of five categories of self-employed and analyses their job quality. Other research examines the working conditions and job quality associated with ICT-based mobile work and the impact of this form of work on quality of working lives.
Impact of job quality
Research on working conditions and workers’ health examines the interplay between job demands and job resources which support workers in greater engagement and well-being. In terms of reconciling work and life, Eurofound examines the reciprocal relations between working conditions and job quality and people’s lives outside work, and what is most important for people in terms of work–life balance.
The EWCS 2015 demonstrates the positive relationship between each job quality index and worker's experience of the quality of working life in terms of: career and employment security, developing skills and competences, maintaining and promoting health and well-being, reconciling working and non-working life, work sustainability, and meaningful and motivating work.
Labour market change and job quality
Eurofound’s European Jobs Monitor (EJM) tracks structural change in European labour markets. It describes shifts in employment at Member State and EU level, analysing changes in terms of occupation and sector and the implications for job quality.
Research continues in this topic on a variety of themes, which are outlined below with links to forthcoming titles.
Agnès Parent-Thirion is a senior research manager in the Working Life unit at Eurofound, tasked with the planning, development and implementation of working conditions research...
Social dialogue still matters in Europe. Recent EU-level policy debates have highlighted that, particularly since the 2008 crisis, the emergence of new debates on social justice, democracy, the quality of work and new models for labour relations have been challenging traditional industrial relations
Šesta evropska raziskava o delovnih razmerah daje različno sliko o Evropi na področju dela, primerljivo po času ter po državah, poklicih, spolu in starostnih skupinah. Ugotovitve poudarjajo zapleteno stvarnost, s katero se srečujejo evropski oblikovalci politike v prizadevanju za vzpostavitev
Developments in Working Life in Europe is part of a series of annual reviews published by Eurofound and provides an overview of the latest developments in industrial relations and working conditions across the European Union and Norway
Occupation is a critical factor in determining the type of working conditions a person will experience during their professional life. This report explores the working conditions of workers – particularly medium-to-low skilled and unskilled – in occupations that are found to have low levels of job
This report examines the upward and downward trends in job quality across the EU from 1995 to 2010. The improvement and harmonisation of working conditions are core objectives of the European Union, but many factors affect job quality.
Ageing of the population is likely to threaten the ability of states to finance welfare states and social protection systems in the future. A viable solution is to increase employment rates and to lengthen working life. To achieve this dual goal requires devising new solutions for working conditions
The First Central American Working Conditions and Health Survey, carried out in 2011, found that many people are self-employed, and that three-quarters of the workforce are not covered by social security.
The third wave of Eurofound’s European Company Survey was carried out in 2013. It surveyed management representatives in over 24,000 establishments; where available, employee representatives were also interviewed – in 6,800 of these establishments.
This report gives an overview of working conditions, job quality, workers’ health and job sustainability in the computer programming, consultancy and related activities sector (NACE 62). It is based mostly on the fifth European Working Conditions Survey (EWCS), which gathers data on working
This report gives an overview of working conditions, job quality, workers’ health and job sustainability in the legal and accounting services sector (NACE 69). It is based mostly on the fifth European Working Conditions Survey (EWCS), which gathers data on working conditions and the quality of work
Teleworking (fjernarbeidor telependling) is becoming an issue of increasing importance on the agenda of the Norwegian social partners. Home-based teleworking is the main focus of attention. Although the level of home-based telework activity has remained relatively constant in the last 10 years, it
There are two inter-related factors within UK workplace relations which, arguably, are both caused by, and solvable by British managers. The first is an increase in workplace stress - the Health and Safety Executive (HSE), for example, has recently released figures (in its /Health and safety
Recent research confirms that the labour flexibility practices most widely employed by Italian companies are those related to functional flexibility - such as job enrichment, job enlargement, job rotation and the provision of training. These practices are supported by participative trade union
The aim of the National Workplace Development Programme is to boost productivity and the quality of working life by making full use of, and developing, staff know-how and innovative power in Finnish workplaces. This is to be achieved by developing human resources and helping organisations to reform
The Confederation of British Industry (CBI) announced in April 1997 that "absenteeism" - the non-attendance of workers who are expected to be at work - had cost UK business GBP 12 billion in 1996; an average of GBP 533 for every employee. Just prior to the CBI announcement, the Manufacturing
The sabbatical leave pilot scheme, which was agreed as part of Finland's last incomes policy agreement, has begun as planned. So far, 5,500 employees have taken advantage of the scheme. The Ministry of Labour's target of 5,000-10,000 employees per year appears likely to be achieved.
Motivated workers have higher levels of engagement, better health and are able to work longer. Improving motivation at work is therefore a key component in meeting the challenges of Europe’s ageing workforce and improving the EU’s long-term competitiveness on a global scale. This means that fosterin
After more than 60 years of European policy on the equal treatment of women and men, men still outnumber women in management positions by almost two to one. The women who do make it into management are more likely to be in non-supervising management roles where they manage operational responsibiliti
Manual jobs in European manufacturing are being transformed as blue-collar workers take on more intellectual tasks. This is a consequence of the increasing use of digital tools and the growing importance of quality control in production. The severe losses of middle-paying jobs in the manufacturing s
The workings of industrial relations are constantly evolving. In this blog piece, Eurofound authors Christian Welz and Ricardo Rodriguez Contreras discuss a tool that Eurofound has developed to enable this process of change to be monitored and analysed, enabling stakeholders in Member States to asse
Dr Erika Mezger, Eurofound's Deputy Director, outlines what the European Working Conditions Survey (EWCS) says about working conditions among German workers and how they compare to those of the rest of Europe.
Even in the confused and contentious context of the new US President-elect as well as the EU’s post- Brexit deliberations, it is hard to argue otherwise. But, while having a job in the first place is clearly of paramount importance to people - and society at large – there is also a more sophisticate
This policy brief investigates how organisations are adapting their work organisation and practices to hybrid work. Based on case studies and on data from the European Working Conditions Survey 2024, the policy brief examines how hybrid work is being managed in organisations and profiles t