FIFTEEN YEARS OF WORKING

CONDITIONS IN THE EU:

CHARTING THE TRENDS

Main trends:

■ Average weekly working hours have been consistently falling over the last 15 years. This is due tohigher percentages of part-time work but also because of a reduction in the proportion of peopleworking very long hours.

■ The proportion of workers with atypical work schedules (night, evening and weekend work) remainsvery low, with no significant change over the last 15 years.

■ Most workers still have fixed work schedules, although the proportion of workers with flexibleschedules is slowly increasing.

■ For most workers, the pace of work depends directly on demands from customers, reflecting thepredominance of the service sector.

■ EU workers report increasing levels of work intensity since 1991.

■ Autonomy at work in the EU is relatively high, but it seems to be on the decline.

■ The percentage of people regularly using computers at work has increased significantly, from 31% to47% in 15 years. However, a substantial proportion of the workforce never uses computers at work(44% overall).

■ Around one in four workers considers their health and safety to be at risk because of their work, aproportion that has been consistently declining over the last 15 years. In the 10 new Member States(NMS) which joined the EU in 2004, the reported levels of risks at work are higher. 40% of allworkers in the NMS consider their health and safety to be at risk because of their work.

■ Women are slowly moving into managerial roles: the proportion of workers with female bosses hasbeen steadily growing over the last 10 years.

The Foundation’s European Working Conditions Surveys (EWCS) have been carried out every five yearssince 1991. They thus provide a unique insight into the evolution of the conditions of work and employmentin the European Union throughout the last 15 years. In late 2005, the Foundation carried out its fourth survey.Almost 30,000 workers were interviewed in 31 European countries, volunteering information on more than100 questions relating to different aspects of their conditions of work and employment.

European Working Conditions Surveys: 1991-2005

The evolution of the EWCS follows the changes in the EU itself over the last 15 years. In 1991, it coveredjust 12 countries; 15 in 1995 and 16 in 2000 (including for the first time a non-EU country, Norway). The2000 survey was extended in 2001 to cover the 10 candidate countries for EU membership. The fourthsurvey, carried out in 2005, covered all 25 EU Member States, plus the acceding countries, Bulgaria andRomania, the candidate countries, Croatia and Turkey, and the EFTA countries, Switzerland and Norway.

In this paper, the analysis is restricted to those countries that were EU members at the time each successivesurvey was carried out.

The changing European workforce: 1991-2005

To understand the changes in working conditions inEurope over the last 15 years or so, one needs to lookat the change in the composition of the workforce. Inabsolute numbers, the EU workforce (employedpersons) has increased from 150 million to almost200 million workers, mainly because of the impact ofthe two EU enlargements in this period, but alsobecause of increasing employment rates (particularlyfor women). Figures 1 and 2 show the changes in thecomposition of the workforce in terms of gender andage, and the patterns are quite clear: the EU workingpopulation is ageing (the age distribution of EUworkers in 2005 peaked at 40 years of age comparedto 25 years of age 15 years ago), and women representa growing proportion of workers (40% in 1991, 44%in 2005).

In terms of economic sectors, the main changes in thelast 15 years have been a substantial reduction in theproportion of the workforce in manufacturing and animportant increase in the business, social andcommunity services. These changes reflect the trendin most advanced economies. The decrease in theproportion of manufacturing workers is the result oftechnological change and productivity enhancements,and not so much due to a real decrease in theeconomic importance of that sector. The last EUenlargement has slightly increased the totalproportion of workers in agriculture andmanufacturing, and has decreased the proportion ofworkers in community and social services.

Finally, the other big change in the composition of theEU workforce in the last 15 years is the increase in so-called ‘atypical’ employment, particularly part-timeand temporary employment. Overall in Europe, theproportion of part-time work has increased from 13%to 18% in the last 15 years (in the EU15, theproportion of part time has risen to more than 20%).The increase in temporary employment was also quitesteep from 1991 to 2000, but this seems to haveslowed in the last five years. The proportion of peoplewith more than one job has slightly increased, but it isstill very low. As for the proportion of self-employed,it decreased until 2000 and increased afterwards,following the usual counter-cyclical pattern.

Data source: EU Labour Force Survey (LFS).

2

Working time

There has been a clear trend towards shorter weeklyworking hours in the European Union, largely due tothe big increase of part-time work, but also because ofa general reduction in the number of workers workingvery long hours (the proportion of employed personsworking more than 48 hours has decreased from 19%to 14% in this period). The trend towards thereduction of weekly working hours has somewhatslowed in the last five years, but this is mainlybecause of the impact of last enlargement, with

working hours being substantially higher in newMember States. In the EU15, the trend towardsshorter working hours has kept pace over the last fiveyears (see Figure 4).

Although the same patterns can be observed for bothsexes (a reduction in working hours until 2000, and acertain reversal in the trend by 2005 because of theimpact of longer working hours in the 10 newMember States), the differences in working hours ofmen and women in Europe remain significant.Whereas almost 36% of EU women work less than 35

Figure 1 EU workforce by gender, 1991-2005 Figure 2 Age profile of the EU workforce, 1991-2005

250

200

150

100

50

0

male female

59.9%

40.1%

58.3%

41.7%

57.3% 55.8%

42.7%

44.2%

Millio

ns

1991 (EU12) 1995 (EU15) 2000 (EU15) 2005 (EU25)1991 (UE12) 1995 (UE15) 2000 (UE15) 2005 (UE25) 2005 (UE15)

30

25

20

15

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5

015-19 20-24 25-30 30-34 35-39 40-44 45-49 50-54 55-59 60-64 65+

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Figure 3 Different employment situations in the EU,change 1991-2005

Self-employed

25%

20%

15%

10%

5%

0%Part-time Temporary

employmentSecond job

1991 (EU12) 1995 (EU15) 2000 (EU15) 2005 (EU25) 2005 (EU15)

3

hours a week according to the most recent figures(and 58% less than 38 hours), only 10% of men workless than 35 hours a week (30% less than 38 hours).This is due to the much higher proportion of femalepart-time workers in the European Union. On theother hand, men are much more likely to work verylong hours (more than 48 hours per week). Andalthough in both sexes there has been a reduction inaverage hours for the period from 1991 to 2000, thegap has not reduced.

The proportion of workers with atypical scheduleshas remained stable over the last 10 years (there is no

data for 1990). Around 80% of the workforce neverworks at night, more than 40% never works onSaturdays and more than 70% never works onSundays. If anything, there has been a small decreasein the proportion of people working atypicalschedules, notably in the case of Saturday work.

Pace of work

The determinants of the pace of work in the EuropeanUnion reflect the predominance of the service sector.In almost 70% of cases (a figure which has remainedstable over the last 10 years), the pace of work isdirectly determined by people’s demands, whereas themovement of a machine (typical of mechanisedindustry) only determines the pace of work of around

20% of the working population, a percentage which isclearly decreasing. Work pace depending oncolleagues, work and the use of performance targetsseem to be increasing.

It is also interesting to note the differences betweenthe EU15 and NMS: in the former, direct people’sdemands are more important determinants of the paceof work, whereas in the NMS the direct control ofworkers’ pace by the boss is more prevalent.

EU12

EU15

EU15

EU25

EU15

Less than 20h 20-34h 35-38h 39-41h 42-48h More than 48h

0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90% 100%

1991

1995

2000

2005

Figure 5 Evolution of weekly working hours, bygender

Figure 4 Evolution of weekly working hours

0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100%

Less than 20h 21-34h 35-38h 39-41h 42-48h More than 48h

1991

1995

2000

2005

1991

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2005

fem

ale

mal

e

EU12

EU15

EU15

EU25

EU12

EU15

EU15

EU25

Direct people’sdemands

1995 EU15 2000 EU15 2005 EU25 2005 EU15 2005 NMS

Work done bycolleagues

Performancetargets

Directcontrol of boss

Movementof a machine

70%

60%

50%

40%

30%

20%

10%

0%

Figure 6 Factors determining pace of work

0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90% 100%

EU12

EU15

EU15

EU25

Never Almost never Around 1/4 of the time Around 1/2 of the time

Almost all of the time All of the timeAround 3/4 of the time

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0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90% 100%

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Never Almost never Around 1/4 of the time Around 1/2 of the time

Almost all of the time All of the timeAround 3/4 of the time

19

91

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00

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4

1995 EU15

Order of tasks Speed of work Methods of work

2000 EU15 2005 EU25

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E15)

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Order of tasks Speed of work Methods of work

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0%

Figure 7 Working at a very high speed Figure 8 Working to tight deadlines

Figure 9 % of employees with fixed schedules Figure 10 % of self-employed with fixed schedules

Figure 12 Self-employed – Are you able to choose orchange…?

Figure 11 Employees – Are you able to choose orchange …?

Work intensity

One of the most consistent findings of the EWCS isthe relative intensification of the pace of work overthe last 15 years. An increasing proportion of EU

workers report working at a very high speed or totight deadlines (see Figures 7 and 8). It is important tonote the substantial reduction in the proportion ofpeople reporting never working at very high speed(from 36% to 21%) and never working to tightdeadlines (from 31% to 19%).

Flexibility of work schedules

Flexibility of work schedules seem to be slowlyincreasing, although two thirds of employees stillhave fixed schedules. This percentage has decreased

from 71% to 67% in the last 10 years. The proportionof self-employed workers with fixed schedules isobviously much lower, but is still a sizableproportion: around one third of the self-employed inEurope works with fixed start and finishing times.

Autonomy at work

In general, the levels of autonomy at work in the EUare relatively high, according to the EWCS. Aroundtwo thirds of employees are able to choose or changethe order of tasks, speed and methods of work, aproportion that reaches almost 90% in the case of the

self-employed. But these high levels of autonomyseem to be slowly reducing in the case of employees:there has been a reduction of 2% to 5% in theproportion of employees reporting them in the last 10years. In the case of the self-employed, there has beenno noticeable change in recent years according toresults from the EWCS.

1991

1995

2000

2005

(200

5)

Never Almost never Around 1/4 of the time Around 1/2 of the time

Almost all of the time All of the timeAround 3/4 of the time

EU12

EU15

EU15

EU25

(EU15)

(NMS)

0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90% 100%

5

Use of information technology

One of the most important changes in the content ofwork over the last 15 years is the increasingimportance of information technology in theworkplace. The proportion of workers who usecomputers at least a quarter of the time in Europe hasincreased from 31% in 1991 to 47% in 2005. But ithas to be noted that there is still a very significantproportion of EU workers who do not use computersat their work at all (44%). The difference between theEU15 and the NMS in this particular respect isremarkable: whereas only 42% of the EU15 workersnever use computers at work, this percentage reachesalmost 60% in the NMS.

Work content

Indicators on the content and nature of work give apositive picture overall. Most European workers areresponsible for assessing the quality of their workthemselves (73%) and solving unforeseen problemson their own (81%). Also, for a majority ofEuropeans, work involves learning new things (70%).

Only 43% of European workers consider that their jobinvolves monotonous tasks. But when looking at thechange in these indicators in the last 10 years, thepicture is not so positive: there is a slow, but clearreduction in the proportion of jobs involving ownassessment of the quality, solving unforeseenproblems and learning new things (in the three cases,the reduction is around 5%).

Figure 13 Working with computers in main job

Table 1 Levels of training

1995 2000 2005 2005In the last 12 months, have you undergone …?

EU15 EU15 EU25 (EU15) (NMS)

Training paid for or provided by your 30.0% 30.6% 27.1% 27.3% 25.6%employer, or by yourself if you are self-employed?

Average number of days per worker 13.5 14.3 11.2 11.4 10.6

Training paid for by yourself n.a. n.a. 6.0% 6.0% 6.5%

Average number of days per worker n.a. n.a. 25.2 25.9 22.6

On-the-job training (co-workers, n.a. n.a. 27.1% 26.8% 29.0%supervisors, etc.)

Other forms of on-site training n.a. n.a. 17.5% 17.0% 20.5%

Training

Overall, around 30% of the EU workforce has beeninvolved in training provided by the employer in thelast 10 years, according to the responses to theEWCS. This proportion seems to have reduced

slightly from 2000 to 2005. In 2005, some newindicators of training were included in the survey thatenrich the information previously available on thisissue. It is interesting to note that around 6% of EUworkers report having undergone training paid for bythemselves.

6

Gender differences in the workplace

One of the main changes in the EU workforce in thelast 15 years is the increasing proportion of femaleworkers. But are they working in the same posts asmale workers? The results of the survey show thatwomen continue to move into certain categories of theoccupational scale, especially into medium- or low-skilled occupations in the service sector (clerks,service and sales workers and elementaryoccupations). The proportion of women in managerialpositions and in more traditional industrialoccupations is much smaller .

It is important to note that the increase in the numbersof women in the workforce over the last 10 years hastended to reinforce these patterns: the occupations inwhich there is an increasing proportion of women areoccupations in which women were alreadypredominant. However, female representation hasincreased significantly in the categories of‘professionals’ and ‘technicians and associateprofessionals’, indicating that women are slowlyclimbing up the professional ladder.

Another way to look at gender differences within theworkplace is to study the position of women in

Information about risks

From 1991 to 2000, there was a clear improvement inworkers’ level of information about risks, but from2000 to 2005 the trend seems to have reversed.However, a small modification in how the questionwas phrased in 2005 has to be taken into accountwhen looking at the figures: up to 2000, the questionreferred to ‘the risks resulting from the use ofmaterials, instruments or products which you handlein your job’, whereas in 2005 it referred to the moregeneral idea of ‘risks related to performance of yourjob‘. The objective of this change was to broaden thescope of the original question, which was biasedtowards a traditional industrial-based concept of risksat work. Part of the reduction in the apparent levels ofinformation about risks from 2000 to 2005 is likely tobe due to this broadening of the concept. But becausethe question posed in 2005 is more adapted to the

realities of work in Europe in 2005, it is arguably abetter reflection of the real levels of informationabout risks in European workplaces.

0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90% 100%

1991

1995

2000

2005

(2005)

Very well informed Well informed Not very well informed Not at all well informed

EU12

EU15

EU15

EU25

(EU15)

(NMS)

Figure 15 Information about health and safety risksat work

Health and safety

Slightly more than one in four EU workers considerstheir health and safety to be at risk because of theirwork. This proportion has been consistently decliningover the last 15 years (from 31% in 1991 to 27% in2005). For this indicator, the difference between theEU15 and the NMS is particularly striking: whereas25% of EU15 workers consider their health and safetyat risk because of work, the percentage jumps to 40%in the NMS.

But when looking at specific job hazards and risks,the actual exposure to risks seems to have remainedrelatively stable or even increased slightly, especiallyin the case of physical strain factors (tiring or painfulpositions and carrying or moving heavy loads). Thedifference between the EU15 and the NMS alreadymentioned is also apparent in the levels of exposure to

risks, especially in risks associated with heavyindustrial work (e.g. noise, vibrations, breathing insmoke or use of chemicals).

45%

40%

35%

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Figure 14 Perception that health and safety is at riskbecause of work

7

hierarchical roles. According to EWCS figures, theproportion of workers whose immediate boss is awoman has consistently increased over the last 10

years, from 21% to almost 25%. In the NMS, theproportion of female bosses is significantly higherthan in the EU15.

0% 1 0% 2 0% 3 0 % 4 0 % 5 0 % 6 0 % 7 0 % 8 0 %

Managerial occupations (6.2% of total)

Professionals (15.5% of total)

Technicians and assoc. professionals (19.2% of total)

Clerks (17.9% of total)

Service, shop and market sales workers (20.8% of total)

Skilled agricultural and fishing workers (3.1% of total)

Craft and related trades workers (3.3% of total)

Plant and machine operators/Assemblers (3.4% of total)

Elementary occupations (11.2% of total)

1995 EU15

2000 EU15

2005 EU25

A man A woman

100%

80%

60%

40%

20%

0%

21

.3

1%

22

.83

%

24

.81

%

24

.16

%

28

.63

%

78

.7%

77

.2%

75

.2%

75

.8%

71

.4%

EU15

1995

EU15

2000

EU25

2005

(EU15) (NMS)

(2005)

Figure 16 Proportion of women in each occupationalcategory Figure 17 Gender of immediate boss

Workplace discrimination

Although the overall proportion of European workersdeclaring some form of discrimination at theworkplace is very low, it is important to keep track ofchanges in this area because of its effects on workersand because of its implications in terms of socialjustice. In general, the picture provided by the EWCSfor the last 10 years seems quite positive. In mostindicators on discrimination at the workplace there

has been a small reduction, in spite of the very lowstarting point. In particular, there is a noticeablereduction in the reported levels of sexualdiscrimination. However, the levels of discriminationlinked to nationality and ethnic background have notdiminished in the last 10 years – although they havenot increased either, in spite of the increasing levelsof immigration throughout those years in manyMember States.

Job satisfaction

In general, European workers report high levels ofsatisfaction with their working conditions. Theselevels are similar to those of workers in most otheradvanced industrial economies. In 2005, more than80% of EU workers declared being either ‘satisfied’or ‘very satisfied’ with their working conditions. Thetwo middle categories (‘satisfied’ and ‘not verysatisfied’) have grown in the last 10 years, whereasthe proportion of those that declare high levels ofsatisfaction has decreased by 5%.

It is also interesting to note that, although the generallevels of satisfaction are high in both cases, workersin the NMS declare considerably lower levels ofsatisfaction with their working conditions, a result

which seems consistent with some of the earlierfindings discussed in this paper.

Very satisfied Satisfied Not very satisfied Not at all satisfied

0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90% 100%

EU15

EU15

EU25

EU15

NMS

1995

2000

2005

(2005)

15.1% 62.1%

27.8% 57.0% 112

18.8% 4.1%

.1% 3

13.1%

.1%

3.2%

31.6%

8.9%

25.9%

2

53.0%

55.5%

57.7%

3.9%

3 %

5%

2 4%

1.

.

1

.3

Figure 18 Satisfaction with the working conditions inmain paid job

FURTHER INFORMATION

Ten years of working conditions in the European Union(http://www.eurofound.europa.eu/pubdocs/2000/128/en/1/ef00128en.pdf )

Copyright: European Foundation for the Improvement of Living and Working Conditions. Reproduction isauthorised, except for commercial purposes, provided the source is acknowledged and a copy is sent to theFoundation.

European Foundation for the Improvement of Living and Working ConditionsWyattville Road, Loughlinstown, Dublin 18, Ireland. Tel: (353 1) 204 31 00 Fax: (353 1) 282 64 56/282 42 09E-mail: postmaster@eurofound.ie

ISBN 92-897-0966-9

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N-C

Methodology

The European Working Conditions Survey (EWCS) is carried out every five years by the EuropeanFoundation for the Improvement of Living and Working Conditions, a tripartite European Agency based inDublin. The questionnaire is developed by the European Foundation team in close cooperation with anexpert questionnaire development group. This group comprises representatives of the European socialpartners, other EU bodies (EU Commission, Eurostat, European Agency for Safety and Health at Work),international organisations (OECD, ILO), national statistical institutes, as well as leading European expertsin the field. The sample of the EWCS is representative of persons in employment (according to the Eurostatdefinition this comprises both employees and the self-employed) in the countries covered for the respectiveperiods. In each country, the EWCS sample followed a multi-stage, stratified and clustered design with arandom walk procedure for the selection of the respondents at the last stage. All interviews were conductedface-to-face in the respondent’s own household.

EF/06/85/EN

Set up in 2003 as a project of the European Foundation, the European Working Conditions Observatory (EWCO)monitors developments in quality of work and employment in EU Member States and at EU level. Its key areas of focusinclude: employment security, health and well-being, competence and skills development and work-life balance. www.eurofound.europa.eu/ewco

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