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Image of Ukrainian refugees at the border between Ukraine and Poland

Stand with Ukraine

After two years of living through a worldwide pandemic, the start of 2022 should have kickstarted a brighter prospect for Europe, the chance to seize the momentum, ‘to get to work, to make Europe greener, more digital and more resilient’. However, on 24 February came the horror of war in Ukraine, casting a dark shadow over that ambition, threatening to alter the course of the EU in the years ahead. Two years later, Eurofound continues to stand with Ukraine and has moved to respond to the evolving crisis.

Topic

Eurofound research

In its role to provide knowledge to assist in the development of better social, employment and work-related policies that will lead to a strong social Europe, Eurofound will continue to adapt and expand its current four-year work programme to explore and respond to issues emerging from the war in Ukraine. The Agency will seek to provide adequate and timely analysis to its stakeholders, policymakers and to the larger public, using existing Eurofound data collection instruments and monitoring tools, as well as its wide range of research tools.

Eurofound’s country profile for Ukraine, published in 2022, offers a wealth of information on key components of working life in the country. Profiles for neighbouring Moldova and Georgia followed in 2023. 

Data collection and monitoring tools

Eurofound’s data collection instruments and monitoring tools have been adjusted to collect evidence to inform the policy responses that will be necessary to support the integration of refugees and displaced persons from Ukraine and prevent the risk of recession resulting from the economic impact of the Ukraine crisis. These are outlined below.

Data sources collecting early information and first results

Adaptation of research projects

Eurofound is adapting a range of projects currently underway or planned for 2024 to cover the turn of events of the last two years and into the future. Topics include:

  • Psychosocial risks: In the context of the 2023 report, post-war trauma will also be analysed and results published in a section of the report on ‘Social impact of migration - Addressing the challenges of receiving and integrating Ukrainian refugees’
  • Working life annual update for 2022 covered the effects of the war in Ukraine on working life in the Member States
  • Unaffordable and inadequate homes, including analysis on energy consumption amid rising prices
  • Barriers to employment of displaced Ukrainians, working with the European Agency for Fundamental Rights to analyse the survey results on the experiences of those who fled Ukraine
  • Impact of the transition to a carbon-neutral economy on employment and its effect on overall job quality, which considers the effects of gas/oil shortages and increasing energy prices when developing scenarios
  • Platform economy, including updates to the online repository on the role of platforms to create work for refugees/migrants, with a particular focus on migrants from Ukraine
  • Minimum wage annual review: data collection on developments impacting minimum wage rates in 2023 will investigate how inflation is reflected in minimum wage increases
  • Social dialogue: national reporting will include the consequences of increased inflation and cost of living
  • Regional perspective on labour market change following the COVID-19 pandemic, with an additional focus on countries and regions receiving a large number of refugees from Ukraine
  • Social cohesion and the role of economic and social discontent, exploring the link between support for Ukraine and discontent
  • Social impact of migration, to include labour market and access to social services, equal treatment of refugees, volunteering and public support
  • Youth life and work in a post-pandemic world, exploring the possibility with the European Training Foundation to collect data in Ukraine
  • Income inequalities and the middle class, to also examine expected effects of inflation and the increasing cost of living
  • Company practices to tackle labour shortages, including corporate initiatives to integrate migrants from Ukraine

Key outputs

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In responding to Russia’s war against Ukraine, the EU activated its Temporary Protection Directive (TPD) for people who fled the country, allowing them to settle in the EU and to...

14 June 2023
Publication
Eurofound research paper
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Eurofound's EU PolicyWatch collates information on the responses of government and social partners to the COVID-19 crisis, the war in Ukraine, rising inflation, as well as gathering examples of company...

Web page

EU context

In addition to the death and destruction from the war waged by Russia on Ukraine and its people, this has brought a massive surge of displaced people to the EU, increased emigration from Russia, and an unfolding humanitarian crisis. In response, massive economic sanctions imposed on Russia by the international community have cut off vital capital and foreign trade flows to the country. The war has affected the markets for oil and gas, as well as other vital commodities. Prices of energy and food have surged, and supply chains have been disrupted with inflation likely to increase further. 

These developments have the potential to deeply affect the living conditions of many European citizens and are likely to have a substantial effect on the world of work, quality of life and social cohesion in the EU in the years to come. Policy will need to respond accordingly.

A range of support measures have been initiated at EU level to help Member States meet the needs of refugees. The European Council has activated the first-ever Temporary Protection Directive, which includes special protection for children, access to education and healthcare, as well as access to jobs, accommodation and housing. In October 2022, the Council adopted conclusions on Ukraine/Russia, critical infrastructure, energy and economy and external relations. In September 2023, in her State of the Union address, Commission President von der Leyen announced a proposal to extend the Temporary Protection Directive for people fleeing Ukraine. On 1 February 2024, EU leaders approved a deal to provide €50 billion in support for Ukraine in the period 2024–2027. 

Publications results (5)

This report focuses on the challenges that the EU Member States and Norway face when receiving and integrating refugees who fled Ukraine after Russia’s invasion in February 2022. It investigates their labour market integration and access to and experiences with public services that are crucial for

28 March 2024

In responding to Russia’s war against Ukraine, the EU activated its Temporary Protection Directive (TPD) for people who fled the country, allowing them to settle in the EU and to access basic public services and the labour market. By spring 2023, more than 4.5 million people had made use of the TPD

14 June 2023

This publication comprises individual country reports on developments in working life in each of the 27 EU Member States and Norway in 2022, based on national research and survey results. The topics covered include the policy responses of governments to inflation and how inflation has featured in

05 May 2023

The EU Presidency of Czechia organised a high-level conference in October 2022 on ‘Tackling energy poverty: EU approach & sharing best practices’. The event aimed to bring different actors together in order to strengthen the dialogue on possible solutions on how to further tackle energy poverty in

28 October 2022

The fifth round of Eurofound's e-survey, fielded from 25 March to 2 May 2022, sheds light on the social and economic situation of people across Europe two years after COVID-19 was first detected on the European continent. It also explores the reality of living in a new era of uncertainty caused by t

07 July 2022
Online resources results (10)

Patterns and trends in social partner involvement in times of crises. 20-21 March 2023, EMCO meeting hosted by the Swedish Presidency, Stockholm. Presentation by Ricardo Rodriguez Contreras, Research Manager, Eurofound.

23 March 2023
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Solidarity with Ukraine and support for the Ukrainian people is unwavering

Today, 24 February 2023, marks one year since Russian forces began a full-scale invasion of Ukraine, starting a war of aggression that has spread death and destruction. It also marks one year of resolute Ukrainian resistance.

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Measures to lessen the impact of the inflation and energy crisis on citizens

As governments across the EU continue to implement policies to support citizens and businesses in the face of rising food and energy prices caused by the COVID-19 crisis and intensified by the war in Ukraine, this article summarises the policy responses as reported in Eurofound’s EU PolicyWatch

Eurofound presentation to the European Parliament Committee on Employment and Social Affairs (EMPL), Ivailo Kalfin, Executive Director, Eurofound, 24 January 2023.

23 January 2023
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First responses to cushion the impact of inflation on citizens

Although the worldwide pandemic situation had already disrupted supply chains and triggered increases in energy and food prices in 2021, the situation deteriorated in 2022 with the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Governments throughout the EU had already started to intervene with policy measures in a

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Policies to support EU companies affected by the war in Ukraine

As the war in Ukraine has intensified, the cost of food, raw materials and energy prices, already high due to the COVID-19 pandemic, has continued to rise substantially. Ahead of coordinated action at EU level, as agreed by EU energy ministers on 9 September 2022, governments across the EU have

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Policies to support refugees from Ukraine

Following the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the mass immigration of refugees into the EU – over 5 million to date, according to the UNHCR – has put European societies under pressure. EU and national-level policymakers together with civil society reacted quickly to accommodate the waves of fleeing Ukr

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First impacts of the Ukrainian crisis on employment in the EU

Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has shocked the world and the international community. Cities being destroyed, civilians wounded, innocent lives lost, refugees fleeing to other countries, and economic sanctions have become everyday news as this unprovoked and unlawful war unfolds.

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During his visit to Dublin, European Commissioner for Jobs and Social Rights Nicolas Schmit talks about using the European Pillar of Social Rights to make Europe a better, fairer, greener and more digital place to live and work. War had just commenced in Ukraine but we were hopeful of a solution. In

29 March 2022
Blogs results (5)
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Europe Day is a celebration of unity, solidarity and harmony. While we may not have had much to celebrate this past year, one thing we can be proud of is how Europe has come together in the face of large-scale challenges and threats, showing that solidarity is the key to resilience and resolve.

8 May 2023
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The dawn of 2022 brought muted optimism to a Europe beginning to emerge from the COVID-19 pandemic, and the progress of vaccination programmes worldwide brought hope. Government and EU support during the pandemic had kept unemployment at bay, averting the widescale collapse of businesses. In step wi

19 December 2022
Image of people waiting for tram in city street and man cycling on cycle path

The Russian invasion of Ukraine and the resulting sanctions have caused energy prices to soar. Governments seeking to alleviate the negative impacts of price increases on households have introduced energy subsidies and VAT reductions for electricity, gas and fuel. While such policies may be needed

10 June 2022
Image of family cooking around camp fire outside home under bombardment in Ukraine

We are 100 days on from the invasion by Russia of Ukraine on 24 February, when peace in Europe was shattered. As the human tragedy began to unfold and with more than 6.8 million Ukrainians, mostly women and children, escaping their country since the start of the war, European citizens have been watc

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Today is Europe Day, and one hundred young people from Ireland and Ukraine will be marking the event at Eurofound, in peaceful south Dublin. Europe Day has traditionally been seen as a celebration of peace and unity in Europe, but, unfortunately, it must be marked differently this year. Europe Day 2

9 May 2022
Data results (3)

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