Flexicurity

1. Flexicurity Young professionals – Europe’s resource and opportunity Conference 2006 28-29/11/2006 Janine Leschke European Trade Union Institute for Research, Education and Health and Safety http://www.etui-rehs.org

2. Definition of Flexicurity Flexicurity is apolicy-strategy that attempts, synchronically and in a deliberate way, to enhance the flexibility of labour markets, the work organisation and labour relations, on the one hand, and employment and income (social) security – notably for weak groups inside and outside the labour market – on the other (Wilthagen/Rogowski, 2002).

3. Forms of flexibility Source: adapted from European Foundation (2003) and Keller/Seifert (2002).

4. Forms of security • Job security:certainty of retaining a specific job with a specific employer • Employment or employability security:certainty of remaining in work, not necessarily with the same employer • Income security:income protection in case that paid work ceases, for instance, through dismissal or mass unemployment, or through chronic illness, disability or retirement • Option/combination security:certainty of having various employment options, for instance the possibility to combine paid work with unpaid work (for example caring or civic engagement) or the right for intermediate working time reduction.

5. The flexibility-security nexus Source: adapted from Wilthagen/Tros 2004.

6. Denmark and the Netherlands as flexicurity examples Denmark and the Netherlands are usually reported as good practice cases. However, both countries follow quite different concepts of flexicurity: • Denmark combines low employment protection legislation with generous unemployment benefits and high spending and intensity on active labour market policies, • the Netherlands, on the other hand, combine high employment protection with high variability of employment contracts (part-time employment, fixed-term employment, temporary agency work). There are thus alternative path to flexicurity  country specific strategies which are in line with political traditions and institutions thus have to be developed.

7. Fixed-term employment by age group, 2006 (% total number employees in age group) Data source: Eurostat (2006, 2nd quarter).

8. Fixed-term employment by reason among youth, 2005(% of total, 15-24) Data source: Eurostat (2006, 2nd quarter). No data for Austria and Spain

9. Fixed-term employment and security Job security • Weak employment protection legislation resulting in low job security is one of the essential features of fixed-term employment. Employment (employability) security • Fixed-term workers are less likely to participate in further education (especially employer sponsored training) than permanent workers Social security • Access can be problematic for fixed-term or casual workers mainly due to the required minimum contribution period. • Vicious relationships are possible (cycling between fixed-term employment and unemployment or between different fixed-term jobs) Combination or option security • Clear trade-offs due to insecure jobs or in the case of temporary agency work irregular working schedules

10. Fixed-term employment and security - How can trade-offs be changed to complementarities? Job security: • Lower job security is the defining feature of this employment type. Nevertheless, governments should be careful not to implement to high differences in EPL between permanent and temporary jobs Employability security: • Guarantee equal access to further training, life long learning, ALMP for all independent of contract type (here, the state has to step in) Income security: • Broaden access to unemployment benefits and other social security benefits; make social security less dependent on ‘standard employment‘, possibly introduce a basic benefit for all Combination/option security: • The state could introduce encompassing „new social rights“ such as a right to substantive training leaves, the right to sabbaticals, to income insurance at temporary working time reduction, etc.

11. Conclusions on flexicurity General conclusions • Not one flexicurity strategy but many • Importance of balancing flexibility and security – recent labour market reforms, for instance in Germany, have strenghtened flexibility more than security • Danger in current discussion that ‘flexicurity‘ is used for just anything • Necessity to re-focus discussion on flexicurity to specific labour market groups (young, women) What‘s in it for youth? • Shift from job security towards employment or employability security could well be in the interest of more mobile young people in that it would facilitate transitions from one job to another