EPSU – young workers and precarious work

1. EPSU – young workers and precarious work Nick Clark Working Live Research Institute June 2012

2. Main themes • 3 Key sectors: • Energy & water • Public administration, defence, social security • Health & social care • 16-24 year olds • Employment • Precarity • Collective bargaining • Training, progression & careers

3. EU 27 and selected countries • Bulgaria • Czech Republic • France • Germany • Greece • Italy • Netherlands • Spain • UK

4. Youth in the European labour market • High level of unemployment (21% compared to 10%, ranging from 8% Austria to 46% Spain) • Low activity rate (50-60%, compared to 70%+) • Increasing participation in tertiary education • In work, more likely to • Have temporary contract (4 times more likely) • Work part-time involuntarily • Be low paid • Less likely to • Be self-employed • Hit hard during the crisis

5. Youth unemployment rates, EU-27 and EA-17, seasonally adjusted, January 2000 - April 2012

6. Ratio of youth to adult unemployment rates 1987-2010, EU

7. Change in youth unemployment rates 2007-2010 (EU 27)

8. Part time as % of all workers, 15-24 yrs

9. Proportion 16-24 year olds with temporary contract (Eurostat Q2 2010)

10. Change in temporary employment

11. Activity status young peopleEU 27, 2008 (from EMCO report no 5 ,2010)

12. Policy context in Europe • Youth on the Move – Commission’s 2010 initiative, primarily aimed at improving educational levels, but also to launch “Youth employment framework” • Interventions to support young workers in OECD countries report (World Bank 2007) found direct employment strategies in US and Canada, but not Europe • European Employment Observatory Review, Youth employment measures, 2010 (published Feb 2011) – no policy initiatives reported relating to state as employer • Eurofound study (2011) finds active labour market strategies common government response (sometimes contested by unions), but again no mention of public sector’s role as employer • “Overall, governments’ policies towards young workers have tended to emphasise the importance of getting young people into work, no matter the quality of the jobs available.”

13. YOUNG WORKERS & PUBLIC SERVICES

14. Youth employment by sector Q2 2011 (EU-27) (Q4 in brackets)

15. Youth employment by sector Q2 2011 (EU-27) (Q4 in brackets)

16. Youth employment by sector Q2 2011 (EU-27) (Q4 in brackets)

17. Ranked by proportion of youth in population

18. EU states as employers of youth

19. Sectoral change in employment by age 2008-2010 in France (Schulze-Marmeling, HERA on EIRO)

20. Job security and age: French civil service (2008)

21. Youth as % all temps: health & social work q1 2008-q2 2011, EU 27

22. Youth as % all temps: public admin, defence, social sec.q1 2008-q2 2011, EU 27

23. Youth as % all temps: water, wasteq1 2008-q2 2011, EU 27

24. Youth as % all temps: electricity, gas, etc.q1 2008-q2 2011, EU 27

25. summary from data • Unemployment becoming more widespread amongst Europe’s young workers • Temporary contracts and involuntary part time working more prevalent for young workers • Public services perform worse than economy as a whole in employing young workers – public administration universally the worst • Young workers more affected by crisis – particularly in public services

26. Interviews – key themes • Forms of precarious work amongst young workers in target sectors • part-time, temporary or zero hours contracts in health & social care (Netherlands, Sweden, Germany) • collapse in permanent posts for young in public admin (Germany, Italy, Spain, UK, France, Greece) • agency working in general not an issue, except in France, some in UK.

27. Social dialogue: • Recruitment of young workers • national schemes – Sweden • UK health • otherwise previous schemes halted under austerity • Training for young workers • few places in public admin, • professional training continues in health, • apprenticeships in utilities • transition of young workers from precarious to more stable work

28. Bargaining on pay • Bulgaria, Germany

29. actions by unions • Reaching out to the young at school/college • Netherlands, Czech Republic • Campaigning over “youth” issues • Italy, France • Youth structures • Sweden, Netherlands, France, Czech Republic • Recruitment drives • UK, Bulgaria

30. Conclusions • few national labour market interventions aimed at youth are expressed through public employment (none exclusively so) • public services reluctant to employ young people, regardless of their qualifications • even poor quality jobs for young people a rare commodity in parts of the public sector

31. relatively little precarious working amongst young workers in the public services – because previous precarious work has resulted in them being largely eliminated • public utilities slightly better – capital intensive • reduced prospect for permanent work in health workers’ chosen field • growth in social care drawing in young people on flexible contracts ( e.g. part-time with no core hours)

32. European public administration has become a middle- to retirement-age occupation with almost no access for the young, no matter how well qualified • EPSU affiliates turning to young members (and potential members) • Little evidence of young workers’ interests featuring in collective bargaining, •  May be at local level

33. young workers more likely to be on low wages – but does not keep them in work. • the orthodoxy that money spent on public services is money wasted is failing the young in particular

34. EPSU • ESPU affiliates at early stages of refocusing their work onto the needs of young workers. • Specific experiences of good practice need to be located and described in more detail. • Austerity has led to public employment being denied to the young – • developing a distinct European trade union campaign • “youth guarantee” specifically for the public services.

35. what else do we need to know? • Privatisation and outsourcing • Employment plans to support jobs in public services • Local good practice, in particular in the public utilities