This first discussion paper, written by the Employment and Labour Mobility Team of the European Centre, presents an overview of the state of research and policy analysis pertaining to the developments and prospects in the world of work and draws parallels with the European Centre’s contributions.
The authors start by identifying the key themes and challenges dominating public and academic discussions, namely non-standardisation of employment and work fragmentation; labour market segmentation, inequality and precarity; adaptation to new skill demands and types of work; unemployment, activation and inclusion; un(der)declared and any other falsely declared work; internationalisation of work and its opponents; transformation of industrial relations; and professionalisation of policymaking. We then present and discuss our recent research on active labour market policy, labour mobility and migration, labour standards and working conditions, and industrial relations while demonstrating their links to the themes identified.
Finally, the authors outline several developing and interlinked trends such as digitalisation and automation, the reorganisation of work, demography and migration, climate change and green transition, which the authors consider imperative to incorporate in future research.
