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Flexicurity, the strategy which aims to simultaneously strengthen flexibility and security in the labour market, has a key role to play in promoting jobs and growth – especially in these trying economic times. That is a key finding from the European Union’s “Mission for Flexicurity”, which toured five Member States during the summer of 2008. The awareness-raising visits to France, Sweden, Finland, Poland and Spain examined how flexicurity is being addressed and implemented in different countries, as well as helping the different labour market actors to take ownership of the process. The findings, along with good practice examples, were published in December 2008. The principle of flexicurity recognises that businesses need a sufficient degree of flexibility in their contracts with staff to enhance their ability to adapt to the changing economic conditions. The flip-side is that employees must be offered an adequate level of security to help them stay in employment or find new positions quickly should the need arise. Flexicurity also requires decent levels of training so people are properly equipped to find good-quality jobs. And job-seekers require reassurance that unemployment benefits will be set at adequate levels while they look for work. 

Key outcomes

After exchanging views with representatives of governments, social partners and experts, Mission found that different countries are tackling flexicurity in different ways. 

This conclusion confirms the EU’s approach of developing common principles and pathways that allow Member States to adopt flexicurity in ways that complement their own domestic environments and labour markets. 

The Mission report also underlines the potential contribution of flexicurity to promoting growth and employment in the current challenging economic climate that faces the EU. 

“The implementation of flexicurity may seem more difficult in such a context,” states the mission’s report, “but … both the short and long-term gains in terms of jobs, productivity and competitiveness justify keeping the reforms on course.” 

Anticipating labour market trends and the demand for skills are found to be crucial for the successful implementation of flexicurity. To achieve this requires an ongoing and in-depth dialogue between stakeholders.

The report also highlights that social partners have a key role to play in establishing national pathways and implementing flexicurity in the Member States. 

Varied approaches

All the countries visited by the Mission had innovative schemes and initiatives to help improve access to employment. 

To help people cope with economic restructuring, Finland, for example, has developed a “change security model” that supports the retraining of employees who have been made redundant. This initiative means that such employees can take leave during their notice period to look for new work, are entitled to higher redundancy payments, and can access tailored training and a programme for job-seekers at their Public Employment Service. 

Flexicurity’s ethos is to help everyone into work, including those with poor employment prospects. 

Poland runs the 45/50+ programme to help older workers get jobs. And it has refocused its labour market policies to offer more help to disadvantaged groups and the long-term unemployed. Meanwhile, young job-seekers receive personalised support. 

In Spain companies with more than 250 staff must introduce “equality plans”, which seek to improve job quality for women by addressing issues like equal pay and flexible working. 

In Sweden a lot is being done to improve the integration of immigrant workers by validating training undertaken abroad and through the provision of language courses. 

To help anticipate changes to the labour market, France has introduced a system that requires companies that employ more than 300 people to think about future job and skills requirements as part of their business strategies.

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