Job quality in the European Union: reflections from

secondary analyses of EWCS

Greet Vermeylen, Eurofound

Quality of Employment,

UNECE/ILO/Eurostat meeting

Geneva, 11-13 Sept

European Working Conditions Survey• European wide survey – 5 waves already: 1991, 1995, 2000 (+01/02), 2005 and 2010

currently preparing 2015

• 1 questionnaire / translated in all the languages 2010: 25 languages and 16 variants

• Country coverage: EU + neighbour countries 5th EWCS (2010) : 34 countries covered : EU27 + NO + ACC3 + IPA3 43000 interviews in total (1000/4000 interview per country)

• Workers survey: employees and self-employed (15+) (LFS def)

• Face to face interviews 2010: 40 min

• Revision of Questionnaire: with support of a questionnaire development group + Governing Board

Quality process: strict quality assurance mechanisms & documentation

EWCS: questionnaire

• Covers many different aspects of the conditions of work and employment of European workers (more than 100 questions) Demographics, structure of workforce, job characteristics, household info (incl work at home) Working time : duration, organisation Physical and psychosocial work factors Nature of work / place of work / work organisation Job content and training Work-life balance Information and consultation Outcomes : health, job satisfaction Earnings

• Trends in EU working conditions in the last 20 years; • Complementary to LFS • Covers all European countries in a completely homogeneous way

detailed comparisons between countries, different groups of workers, …

• Gender mainstreaming : central in reflection on questionnaire

Multilevel and Multiactor perspective

Level of analysis Examples of topic and roles

The worker Fit, able to combine work with care, equipped with marketable skills skills, motivated to work, preferences

The job What quality ?

The company HR and other policies and practices, work organisation practices, trade Union role, collaboration between workers

The labour market Unemployment and participation rates, transitions etc

The legal and regulatory framework

Rights and duties, financial incentives, promoting good practice, collective agreements

The welfare state Safety net, developing capacities, supporting social infrastructure

Criteria for selecting job quality features ?

- Well being of workers ?- Considers dimensions with potential causal positive or

detrimental effects on well-being + limit the capacity of workers to take up up a specific job; propsective studies; dir ‘89

- Performance of companies ?- Direct and indirect effects between well-being and performance

- Gender equality ?- Calls at minimum for gender mainstreaming and providing

gender disaggregated data. - European social model ?

- Voice ? Workers participation ? - Other ?

Trends in job quality (Green, Mostafa): the indices : 69 questions

• Builds on Eurofound (2002):

- “career and employment security”, “health and well-being”, “reconciliation of working and non-working life” and “skills development”

• Earnings: monthly earnings• Prospects : Job security, career progression, contract• Intrinsic Job Quality

- Skills and Discretion- skills use (problem-solving, complexity), learning and training, discretion

and influence over own work, occupation (incl. average education level in occupation)

- Good Social Environment- good support, absence of bad social relationships

- Good Physical Environment- inverted count of environmental and posture-related hazards

- Work Intensity- high effort requirements (including emotional demands), multiple work

pressure sources• Working Time Quality : length of working week, weekend, evening & night work, time

discretion, time flexibility

Under 5 employees Between 5 & 49 employees

More than 49 employees

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

WTQ IJQ

Prospects

Under 5 employees Between 5 & 49 employees

More than 49 employees

0

200

400

600

800

1000

1200

1400

1600

Earnings in Euros

Average Job Quality by Establishment Size

Clusters Earnings WTQ IJQ Prospects Percent

High-Paid Good Jobs 2786.5 63.7 74.6 78.9 13.6

Well-Balanced Good Jobs 1029.7 68.4 74.3 71.0 37.2

Poorly-Balanced Jobs 1160.1 42.9 61.4 70.5 28.9

At risk Jobs 726.9 52.7 57.3 34.4 20.2

Total 1245.7 57.2 67.2 64.5 100.0

Clusters of job quality

Denmark

Luxem

bour

g

Netherl

ands

Finl

and

Norway

United

Kin

gdom

Belgiu

m

German

y

Swed

enIta

ly

Slov

akia

Austri

a

Polan

d

Fran

ce

Czech

Rep

ublic

Portu

gal

Spain

Slov

enia

Croati

a

Irelan

dM

alta

Kosov

o

Estoni

a

Bulga

ria

Mon

teneg

ro

Hunga

ry

Cypru

s

Greece

Roman

ia

Latvia

Lithua

nia

Alban

ia

F.Y.R

.O.M

Turke

y0.0

10.0

20.0

30.0

40.0

50.0

60.0

Female Male

proportion of workers with ‘at risk' jobs by country and gender

Other secondary analyses/work in the pipeline

• Working time and work-life balance over the life course (Kummerling, Anxo, Franz)

• Gender and work (Smith, Burchell, Rubery, Rafferty)

• Ageing workforce and sustainable work (Volkoff, Vendramin, Valenduc, Molinie, Leonard, Ajzen)

• Work and health (Leombruni, Pacelli, Ardito, d’Errico)

• Employee participation and work organisation (Gallie and Zhou)

• Sectoral profiles (in-house, van Houten)

• Occupational profiles (in-house, Wetzels)

• Convergence and divergence over the life course (Holman): work in progress • Policy lessons of the 5th EWCS (Morley): work in progress• Preparation of the 6th EWCS (incl questionnaire)• Sustainable and inclusive quality of work: a conceptual framework (in-house)

Some gender concerns - Gender and work (Smith et al, forthcoming)

-working time and work-lifebalance over the life course (Kummerling)

• Gender segregation of labour markets : in short, lifecourse profiles, glass ceiling and occupational gender segregation, unpaid work mostly borne by women; the value of work

Different job quality compromises for men and women In a dynamic approach : closing gender gaps ?

• by decreasing men’s situation or increasing women’s position ?• The second phase of recession : public sector

• Work-life balance matters and needs to be supported at individual, household, company and collective levels Life course perspective

full time

part time

full time

part time

men

wom

en

0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70

paid workcommuting timeunpaid work

Number of hours spent on paid and unpaid work per week, by gender and working time (EU27)

EWCS, 2010

Unpaid working time (care and household activities) over the life course

Sing

les w

/o ki

ds, li

ving

at ho

me (18

-35)

Sing

les w

/o ki

ds (<

46y)

Coupl

es (w

omen

< 46

y) w

/o ch

ildren

Coupl

es, y

oung

est c

hild

< 7 y

Coupl

es, y

onge

st ch

ild 7-

12y

Coupl

es, y

oung

est c

hild

13-1

8y

Empty n

est c

oupl

es w

/o re

siden

t chi

ldren

Older

coup

les w

/o re

siden

t chi

ldren

Older

singl

es w

/o re

siden

t chi

ldren

0.0

5.0

10.0

15.0

20.0

25.0

30.0

35.0

40.0

45.0

50.0

Men Women

unpa

id w

orki

ng ti

me

(hrs

)

- Union formation - increases unpaid working

time for women - decreases for men

- During parenting phase employed women spend twice as much hours on these activities as men

- When entering parenting phase

- women reduce paid work by 4 hrs but increase unpaid work by 25 hrs

- men‘s unpaid work increases by 12 hrs

- The decision of men to engage in care work is more circumstance dependent than it is for women

- working time organisation, atypical working hours

Working hours preferences, by gender, age and employment status, 2010, EU27 (%)

0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70%

All

Men

Women

Less than 30 years of age

Between 30 and 49 years of age

50 or more years of age

Self-employed

Employed - permanent contract

Employed - Other

More The Same Less

Working time preferences for men and women over the life course

• On average a desire for fewer hours, for men and women Particularly marked among counties with very long hours (TK,AL, GR) but also SE A few counties with a preference for more hours for women and men (LV, LT), for men (EE, MT) and

for women (NL, IT, IE)

• Longer hours desired among part-timers particularly in high part-time use countries

• Life course variations are important - presence of children and for older workers- Women in the parenting phase show a higher likelihood to prefer an reduction of working time- Men with children (aged 7-12) are less likely to opt for a reduction of working time or do not want to

change it- Both, older women and men, do not wish to increase working time

• Public sector male employees report smaller differences between usual and preferred hours

Women in private sector tend to report smaller preference gap

Fit between working hours and private commitments

Which elements contribute? • 18% of workers have problems with work-life balance

Men > women esp. men 30-49 yrs old Dissatisfaction for women more evenly spread over career

• Individual and household characteristics Children make a big difference

• Working time features Likely to have balance: part-time work, flexibility in working time

arrangements, working the same hours every day, having fixed starting and finishing times, not difficult to take time off during working hours

Not likely to have balance: working long hours, night work, evening work and weekend work

From ageing workforce

• Age polarisation• Commitment to increasing working lives

• (Will) require : Avoid demanding working conditions :

more demanding working conditions are being transferred to older workers -> ergonomics, OSH, work organisation

Facilitating reconciliation of professional and private life (HR) policy should encourage employee led working time flexibility

Meeting aspirations for integration through work, developing one’s capacities

older workers : reflection on how to contribute as much as they would want

Facilitating socio-economic participation into work risks for a sub-group of older workers of low pay and insecure employment situations

To sustainable work

• Changes in work organisation and demographic evolution seem to have reduced protective mechanisms that allowed older workers to be less exposed to painful working conditions challenges in work organisation : prevent wearing out / avoid transferring the burden

from the older to the younger

• Key factors in explaining work unsustainability when ageing : painful positions, poor work life fit and bad career prospects challenges in health and safety, human ressources management, company organisation

and the management of flexibility

• Work sustainability differ strongly per occupations. Variety in occupational situations would need differentiated policy approaches

• Comparisons between countries show that working conditions for older workers vary from one country to another: country effect is a key factor for determining working conditions

Work Organisation and Employee Involvement in Europe

• Different company practices: Employee involvement : autonomy, team work and participation in the

improvement of products and processes

• Patterns of Employee Involvement 38% of EU 27 employees are in low involvement organizations 27% are in high involvement organizations. 35% are in intermediate levels of involvement; marked differences between countries

• Determinants of Employee Involvement Low involvement more common : routine machine production; higher involvement in knowledge work (client and ict) Clear relationship between opportunities for involvement and occupations : 50% of managers are

in high involvement; the non-skilled are predominantly in low involvement systems (57%). Involvement works better when embedded in a wider organizational culture concerned with

employee development. Where collective consultation existed, employees were more likely to be in a high involvement

than in a low involvement organisation (36% compared with 27%).  

 

Consequences of Employee Involvement

Employee involvement and HR practices60% of employees in high involvement organizations had training in the previous year,

compared to 40% of those in low involvement organizations ->Important for innovation

‘My organisation motivates me to give best performance’ 47% for low involvement and 76% for high involvement organisations -> important for

productivity

Being in an high involvement organization : associated with a significant reduction in general physical risks

High involvement organizations provides greater flexibility with respect to working time

control of start and finish times, ability to take time off during work.

Greater opportunities for involvement in decision making was also associated with higher levels of psychological well-being among employees and less absence

More to come

• Bringing this to policy agenda: high costs associated with the exhaustion of labour for all of society benefits for developing capabilities of individuals and organisations

• An alternative to the exhaustion of labour is possible (and happening now) Job quality is one way. Changes in work organisation and hrm pratices may be necessary

• Understanding pre conditions for promoting these win-win arrangements is important Watch out for the 3rd European Company Survey (2013)

• Good job quality is key to contributing to smart, inclusive and sustainable growth • Coherence of actions matter• Many solutions may be local / national

role for the European level/international level mostly in monitoring, organizing learning

That is why it is also important to continue with measurement of quality of employment

Thank you More on www.eurofound.europa.eu

gve@eurofound.europa.eu

- Dataset available through Essex data archive

Level of job segregation at the workplaceby gender, 2010, EU27 (%):

are workers with same job title men or women?

Men Women All0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

80%

Mostly men

Mostly women

More or less equal number of men and women

Job segregation at the workplace

Occupational gender segregation, by gender (EU27)

mal

e do

min

ated

mix

ed

fem

ale

dom

inat

ed

mal

e do

min

ated

mix

ed

fem

ale

dom

inat

ed

clerical occupations manual occupations

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

menwomen

EWCS, 2010

Long and short hours working among the largest occupations by sex

Building workers

Metal workers

Drivers and operators

Science and engr assoc prof.

Mining and construction workers

Production managers

Hospitality and retail managers

Skilled agricultural workers

Food, wood and garment workers

Numerical clerks

Legal, social and cultural prof.

Business and admin assoc prof.

Personal service workers

Health professionals

Teaching professionals

Sales workers

General clerks

Cleaners

Health assoc professionals

Personal care workers

-30% -20% -10% 0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70%

F 48+ F 0-19

M 48+ M 0-19

Mixed

Female-dominatedoccupations

Male-dominatedoccupations

Job sustainability and working conditions

Male Female Male Female

Autonomy Low 48 46 Posture related index

Low 77 69

High 72 67 High 39 35

Work intensity

Low 64 61 Career developmentpossibilities

Low 49 49

High 51 50 High 66 64

Worker participation

Low 46 47 Work life balance

unfit 47 42

High 70 65 fit 62 62

Work well done

Never 43 44 Learning new things

Low 49 49

Always 63 60 High 63 60

Male Female0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

WTQ

IJQ

Prospects

Male Female0

200

400

600

800

1000

1200

1400

1600

Earnings in Euros

Average Job Quality by Sex

Index Brief description of content Items Used In Construction *

Earnings Hourly earnings EF10, EF11, Q18

Prospects Job security, career progression, contract quality Q77A, Q77C, Q6, Q7

Intrinsic Job Quality

Skill Use and Discretion (0.25)

- skills and autonomy

 

Q61A, Q61C, Q49C, Q49E, Q49F, Q50A, Q50B, Q50C, Q51C, Q51E, Q51I, Q51O, Q24H, ef1_isced, isco_08_2

  Good Social Environment (0.25)

- social support, absence of abuse

 

Q51A, Q51B, Q58A, Q58B, Q58C, Q58D, Q58E, Q77E, Q70A, Q70B, Q70C, Q71A, Q71B Q71C

  Good Physical Environmental (0.25)

- low level of physical & posture-related hazards

 

Q23A to Q23I, Q24A to Q24E

  [100 - Work Intensity] (0.25)

- pace of work, work pressures, & emotional/value conflict demands

 

Q45A, Q45B, Q46A to Q46E, Q51G, Q51L, Q51P & Q24G

Working Time Quality

Duration, scheduling, discretion, and short-term flexibility over working time

Q18, Q32, Q33, Q34, Q35, Q39, Q40, Q43

Proportion of women in the largest occupations, by employment status / white & blue collar

Employment in the public sector & occupational segregation by gender/occupations