The Netherlands: What the Dutch can teach the world about remote work - by Katie Bishop

If you’ve been balancing your laptop on a precarious stack of cookbooks, or lamented VPN speed from your kitchen table, you’re not alone. Ever since restrictions were put in place to slow the spread of Covid-19, companies have been scrambling to enable colleagues to work from home.

As we adapt to the much-cited ‘new normal’, some experts are predicting that remote work might be here to stay. This is leaving many nervously eyeing up our makeshift home desk set-ups, and wondering how on earth we can handle the backache.

But for some, remote working is just another day at the office .Thousands of workers in the Netherlands benefit from the country’s astonishingly flexible work culture. While the percentage of employed persons usually working remotely before the coronavirus outbreaklingered at around 4.7% in the UK, and 3.6% in the US, 14.1% of the Netherland’s workforce reports usually working away from the office. The Netherlands has long led the global shift toward remote work, with only Finland
catching up in recent years while other countries lag behind.

“When the pandemic started, I suddenly found myself playing the part of a remote-work coach for my wife and our neighbours,” says Yvo van Doorn, an Amsterdam-based engineer. “I was suddenly answering questions about home networks and video conferencing. It was eye-opening because I’d taken these things for granted.”

Read more at: 
What the Dutch can teach the world about remote work - BBC Worklife

Brexit: Britain needs an anti-Brexit alliance – by Vince Cable

Britain's next prime minister is in the process of being chosen by around 160,000 Conservative Party members — a self-selecting "selectorate" that is predominantly over 55, relatively wealthy, and, needless to say, not representative of the country.

When their chosen leader drags himself out of that toxic sludge, he’s in for a shock.

Not only will he face a Conservative Party irrevocably divided at the grassroots level and a country poised to wreak revenge for the Brexit shambles at the first opportunity, but he will also face an anti-Brexit front more united than ever before.

Parties such as the Liberal Democrats, the Greens and Plaid Cymru are starting to work together for the greater good. We're putting aside our differences and focusing on doing everything collectively to stop a no-deal Brexit — and, indeed, to stop Brexit altogether.

In the upcoming Brecon and Radnorshire by-election, Welsh party Plaid Cymru has endorsed the Liberal Democrats because we offer the clearest chance of victory for pro-European voters. The Green Party has also decided to stand aside. That means anyone wanting to elect a candidate who is committed to stopping Brexit will be voting for the Lib Dems' Jane Dodds, maximizing the chances of taking back this Welsh seat from the anti-European Tories.

It's hard to overstate the significance of this alliance. The decision is a beacon of political pragmatism and principle in the current fog of cross-party rancor and offers a roadmap for building an effective anti-Brexit front that can save Britain from lurching toward disaster.

Read more: Britain needs an anti-Brexit alliance – POLITICO

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Britain-Brexit: May gambles on talks with Labour to unlock Brexit, enraging her party - by Guy Faulconbridge, Elizabeth Piper and Kate Holton

Prime Minister Theresa May said on Tuesday she would seek another Brexit delay to agree an EU divorce deal with the opposition Labour leader, a last-ditch gambit to break an impasse over Britain's departure that enraged many in her party.

Nearly three years since the United Kingdom voted to leave the European Union in a shock referendum result, it is still unclear how, when or if it will ever indeed quit the European club it first joined in 1973.

In a hastily arranged statement from her Downing Street office after spending seven hours chairing cabinet meetings on how to plot a way out of the Brexit maze, May said she was seeking another short extension to Brexit beyond April 12.

Read more at: May gambles on talks with Labour to unlock Brexit, enraging her party

US Economy: U.S. jobs flee the country, one of Trump’s biggest campaign promises is already going down in flames - Salon.com

Again and again on the campaign trail, Donald Trump made promises he couldn’t keep, playing on the ignorance of his base and revealing his own glaring misunderstanding of policy. 

The GOP candidate repeatedly vowed to strongarm companies into keeping jobs at home instead of sending them to Mexico, renegotiate NAFTA and impose stiff import taxes on foreign goods. It was a message that appealed widely to Trump supporters, blending the illusion of economic hope with the rubric of “America First” nationalism.

Problem is, nothing about Trump’s vision has anything to do with reality, and U.S. jobs continue to be sent across the border. As Bloomberg reports:

Illinois Tool Works Inc. will close an auto-parts plant in Mazon, Illinois, this month and head to Ciudad Juarez. Triumph Group Inc. is reducing the Spokane, Washington, workforce that makes fiber-composite parts for Boeing Co. aircraft and moving production to Zacatecas and Baja California. TE Connectivity Ltd. is shuttering a pressure-sensor plant in Pennsauken, New Jersey, in favor of a facility in Hermosillo.

Read more: As U.S. jobs flee the country, one of Trump’s biggest campaign promises is already going down in flames - Salon.com

Europe’s Slow-Burning Issue – Making Work Sustainable - by Greet Vermeyle

Making work sustainable is not simply a challenge for politicians and policymakers in the European Union: it is a fundamental issue that underpins the future of the world of work in Europe. It goes beyond the mantra of raising employment rates and deals with productivity and innovation – and the everyday lives of workers throughout the EU.

Sustainable work involves two main elements: first, ensuring that people in employment are able and willing to continue to work, and second, that throughout life, the situation and circumstances of workers are taken into account to enable them to enter, return, or stay part of working life – this involves having the time to engage in, say, private care activities and take care of health and employability issues throughout the course of one’s life.

The findings of the sixth European Working Conditions Survey (EWCS) help to map the situation of workers in Europe and uncover some truths which could enhance the sustainability of work for men and women.

The survey reveals stark differences between workers in Europe: more than one in four say they do not think they will be able to do their job or a similar one until 60, while one in five would like to continue to work as long as possible. This varies between countries: in Germany, Portugal, Denmark, and Finland more than four in five workers say that their work is sustainable, but fewer than three in five feel the same in France and Slovenia. Work and working conditions can play a positive role in keeping and building up health and well-being, skills and capacities. A preventative and proactive approach towards healthier and longer working lives and, where needed, ensuring that private needs (health issues, time issues, care responsibilities, employability) are taken care of, are therefore vital.

Working life can have an impact on health (whether immediate or delayed), as well as skills, motivation, and overall employability. Workers are, clearly, less likely to find work sustainable if they are exposed to physical risks, have high work intensity, do shift work or night work, fear losing their job; if they are subject to unfair treatment, or if they are exposed to bullying and harassment. Factors which make it more likely to respond positively to work being sustainable are being able to take an hour off to take care of private issues when needed, getting support from colleagues, having the perception of doing useful work, and getting recognition when doing a good job.

A key element to making work sustainable is being able to reconcile working life and private life. Throughout working life needs vary and different solutions can enhance work-life balance. For example, the care needs for small children are different than those for older children, or for other dependants such as sick partner and elderly parents. The sixth EWCS indicates that one worker in five feels that there is a bad fit between work and private commitments. This is more true of men than women, since women are more likely to adapt their work commitments to meet the demands they face in their private lives. This issue is most prevalent when there are children in the household. However, if we look at work done in the household sphere, so-called ‘unpaid work’, women continue to engage more in work here than men: both men and women increase their unpaid working hours when there are children but for women the number of unpaid working hours goes from 12 hours per week (without children) to 39 (with the youngest child under 7) and for men from 5 to 20 hours per week.

Read more:Europe’s Slow-Burning Issue – Making Work Sustainable

Britain: Why Brexit Would Be Bad For Employment Rights

Imagine a country in which there is no statutory right to paid holiday, no legal limit on the number of hours employees can be required to work, no right to a daily rest period, no laws to prevent employers discriminating against workers who are disabled or who have particular religious beliefs, and no right for employees to take time off work to look after a sick child.

This was the UK before the New Labour government was elected in 1997. Since then a substantial number of employment rights have been introduced – most of which have their roots in EU legislation.

Thanks to the EU, employers cannot treat part-time workers less favourably than full-time workers, working parents have a right to take leave to look after their children, and temporary agency workers and workers with fixed-term contracts are entitled to the same basic conditions as comparable workers with permanent contracts.

Employees also have rights to paid holiday and rest periods, as well as the right to be informed and consulted about matters that directly concern them at work. Employers, meanwhile, are forbidden from discriminating against their employees on grounds of religion or belief, disability, age or sexual orientation.

There’s strong reason to believe that many of these rights would be lost should Britain leave the EU.

Read more:n Britain: Why Brexit Would Be Bad For Employment Rights

USA: Unemployment rises in majority of US states in July

Unemployment rates rose in 30 states last month, even as employers in two-thirds of the states stepped up hiring. The trends reflect an increase in job-hunters nationwide as an improving economy has encouraged more people to seek work.

The Labor Department said Monday that unemployment rates fell in eight states in July and were unchanged in 12. At the same time, hiring rose in 36 states, fell in 13, and was unchanged in Iowa.

The national unemployment rate ticked up to 6.2% in July from 6.1% in June, the government said earlier this month, even as employers added 209,000 jobs.

The reason the rate rose nationwide even as hiring increased is that more Americans launched job searches but didn’t find work. That lifted the number of unemployed. Still, the rise in people seeking jobs suggests they’re more optimistic about their prospects.

The jobless aren’t counted as unemployed unless they’re actively seeking work.

Read mores; Unemployment rises in majority of US states in July | Business | theguardian.com

EU-Frustration, anger and populism in Europe

Slowly but surely, Europe is dragging itself out of its economic crisis. According to latest forecasts, the overall eurozone economy will grow by around 1 percent in the coming year. Even in the states that have been plagued by crisis, economic growth has returned, albeit far too weak to make any real improvements to the labor market.

Unemployment, in particular among young people, will continue to be a very serious problem in this sixth year of economic crisis. In October 2013, there were more than 3.5 million unemployed Europeans under the age of 25; in Greece and Spain, youth unemployment is well over 50 percent.

But when it comes to job perspectives, the odds have been stacked against younger generations in southern Europe since before the current crisis began. Karl Brenke of the German Institute for Economic Research said there are structural reasons behind the unemployment crisis: the majority of young people in southern and eastern Europe simply don't have proper qualifications.

Read nmore: Frustration, anger and populism in Europe | Europe | DW.DE | 27.12.2013

Europe needs to change, let the debate begin - by Martin Schulz

It is not just former Eurosceptic Conservative ministers and Ukip supporters who are questioning the view that an 'ever closer union' is the answer to Europe's challenges.

For some, the idea is in freefall. Europe is living through rising eurosceptism, unacceptably high unemployment, especially among the young, and weak economic prospects.  This is worrying, for the moment people withdraw their support from an idea, the idea is finished. The more populist protest parties may see the European elections this time next year as an opportunity to score electoral successes.

As a convinced European I welcome the debate, but I recognise first that Europe needs to change course, something many in Brussels seem not to acknowledge. We are living beyond our means. Budgetary consolidation is essential, if only because we cannot bequeath a mountain of debt to our children.

Second, some structural reforms – to the labour market and on retirement ages - are essential. But the austerity policies currently being implemented in Europe are lopsided. It is taking too long for the structural measures and the necessary budgetary consolidation to take effect and, at long last, increase competitiveness.

In the meantime, some EU Member States are sliding ever deeper into a recession. Austerity, supposedly the cure, is threatening to undermine the European project.

Third (and this is surely a cause to warm a British Eurosceptic’s heart), the EU must tackle the vexed question of tax. Every year in the EU, €1 trillion is lost through tax evasion and tax avoidance – an enormous loss to the Union. This sum could be used to pay off debt, to set up youth guarantee schemes and to invest further in growth initiatives. European heads of state and government have a duty to agree on effective counter-measures at the EU summit in ten days’ time.

And yet, and yet. Just six months ago, the European Union was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize. It was one of my proudest moments. Indeed, many of Europe's greatest successes are being taken for granted: Europe is the most prosperous continent on earth, Europeans can travel, work and live where they please. We enjoy a standard of living and a degree of protection of our fundamental rights which people in other parts of the world can only dream of.

Perhaps paradoxically, a new European awareness is emerging from the crisis. Europeans are recognising how interdependent they are. One country's failures can threaten the entire European economy, and can call into question the fruits of 60 years of integration. Peace, solidarity, and prosperity are not irreversible; only 27 countries, (28 when Croatia accedes to the EU on 1 July this year), working together can guarantee them. The peoples of Europe are taking a greater interest in what is happening on the other side of their countries' borders. People want to know what the retirement age is in other countries, what the top tax rate is, why young people are demonstrating in the streets of European capitals.

However, some governments still refuse to accept that they are already working in a European context. They prefer to cling to national sovereignty, to the familiar trappings of carefully orchestrated Brussels Summits at which they mount a last-ditch defence of their national interests and then present the outcome at home as a victory. In so doing, they disregard the fact that it is in their countries' very best interests that Europe should function properly. This, surely, is little more than posturing.

The European Parliament and the Council is currently discussing the EU's long-term budget 2014-2020. It’s an important issue, but sadly it best illustrates the short-termist lack of commitment of some Member States to the wider European interest.  It is clearly misguided of EU governments, including the UK government, not to shift investment towards research and development, education, training, foreign relations and development aid, areas where European added value are at their greatest.

The EU is about much more than its budget (capped at a meagre one percent of EU GDP since its inception).  The single market benefits the British economy hugely, and the EU remains by far the biggest destination for UK trade, accounting for almost 50 per cent of total exports The UK has played a leading role in forming many key EU policies (on the single market, overseas development, trade and climate change).  UK leadership in these areas has been highly appreciated and would be sorely missed should the British decide to exit.

Read more: Martin Schulz: Europe needs to change, let the debate begin - UK Politics - UK - The Independent

France: Record levels of unemployment in France

The French jobless total has hit an all-time high with 3.22 million people seeking work. Following a wave of industrial lay-offs, the figure is the highest since 1997.

The number of days spent out of work has also beaten records at 485 days on average.

The news puts the government’s pledge to reduce unemployment by 2013 in question.

Though not as dire as neighbouring Spain, the number of jobless has contributed to an all-time low in President François Hollande’s popularity.

Read more: Record levels of unemployment in France | euronews, world news

The Netherlands - Unions and employers poised to sign economic reform agreement

Talks on reaching agreement between unions and employers on a string of economic reforms are nearing completion and a deal could be signed as early as Thursday night.

Social affairs minister Lodewijk Asscher told reporters on Thursday afternoon the talks had 'entered a new phase' and that unions and employers are now in formal talks with the cabinet.

Asscher and prime minister Mark Rutte will join talks with the unions and employers on Thursday evening, website nu.nl said.

The negotiations have centred on a number of controversial areas, including changes to unemployment benefit and redundancy law and a pay freeze for health workers.

On Thursday morning, the Volkskrant newspaper said a deal had been agreed on unemployment benefit which would allow people with a long employment record to claim the benefit for up to three years. The government wanted to slash this to one year at 70% of salary and one year at 70% of the minimum wage.

Read more: DutchNews.nl - Unions and employers poised to sign economic reform agreement

Employment Opportunities: World jobs growth slowing, youths suffering the most: report - by Tavia Grant

Global unemployment grew by another 4 million people over the course of last year amid weaker economic activity and lingering uncertainty about hiring, the International Labour Organization said in its annual study of global employment trends.

Its report highlights a number of shifts in the world of work. Labour participation rates are ebbing as more workers get discouraged. The mismatch between people without jobs and jobs without people is getting more acute. And youth are once again hardest hit.

“In the fifth year after the outbreak of the global financial crisis, global growth has decelerated and unemployment has started to increase again,” the Geneva-based United Nations agency said in its 239-page analysis.

Labour market mismatches are getting worse. “The length and depth of the labour market crisis is worsening labour market mismatch, contributing to extended spells of unemployment.”

Jobs in exporting industries are “particularly vulnerable” as trade weakened in some parts of the world. As a result, “new jobs that become available often require competences that the unemployed do not possess.”

These skills mismatches will make the labour market more slow to respond if economic activity does ramp up unless there are more policies to promote skills training, it cautioned.

All told, unemployment has swelled by 28 million people since the start of the financial crisis, with half of that increase in advanced economies. And the slowdown in those economies is causing “significant spillovers” into the labour markets of developing economies too.

Read more: World jobs growth slowing, youths suffering the most: report - The Globe and Mail

German Trade Unions Demanding Big Pay Increases After Years of Restraint - by Sven Böll and Janko Tietz

German trade unions plan to demand big pay increases this year and look set to get their way. Economists say that after years of wage moderation, it is high time that German firms agreed to bigger hikes -- not least because this would help the entire European economy.

Frank Bsirske, the head of the Ver.di service workers' union, gets annoyed when he hears people say that Germany is doing pretty well. "That only applies to the well-off," he says angrily. "The gap between rich and poor has never been this wide, and never has the middle class felt this threatened." The union leader is even worried that social conflict could escalate.

His recipe against the erosion of society is hardly surprising: Wages have to go up, and by a significant amount, at that. In the current collective bargaining round, Ver.di is calling for a 6.5-percent pay increase -- the highest in years -- for German public sector employees.
Readx more: German Trade Unions Demanding Big Pay Increases After Years of Restraint - SPIEGEL ONLINE

EU Migrant Workers transfer 39.1 billion euro's yearly to support families in countries of origin

There are presently more than 20 million third country nationals residing on the territory of the European Union (EU). In fact, Europe really needs more migrants than less

The home affairs Commissioner Cecilia Malmström said that there had to be more effective legal ways for non EU-citizens to come to Europe to work or to study.

She added that immigration was clearly not the only answer, but it was certainly part of a common solution to the issues, such as labor and skills shortages in key sectors and the impact of ageing population and shrinking workforce, which Europe currently faced. Moreover, the EU Commissioner also pointed at the link between facilitating labour migration and the prevention of vulnerable migrants in irregular situations from exploitation.

On a global scale, the statistics show that the total number of international migrants has increased over the last 10 years from an estimated 150 million in 2000 to 214 million persons today. The United Nations claim that migrants would constitute the fifth most populous country in the world. It has also been estimated that 49% of migrants worldwide are women.

The International Organisation for Migration (IOM), on the other hand, has assessed that globally remittances have increased from $132 billion in 2000 to an estimated $ 440 billion in 2010.  

According to the EU’s statistical office, Eurostat, the amount of money sent by migrants from EU27 member states to their country of origin in 2011 has increased in comparison to previous years, reaching 39.1 billion euro.  In a way this is far more money than some of the EU member countries earmark for development aid.

EU-Digest

Cyprus: EU jobless rate hits record high, Cyprus at 12.9 per cent

EURO zone joblessness has reached a new high and the poor state of the economy is reducing inflation to near two-year lows, raising the prospect of further interest cuts by the European Central Bank.

In Cyprus the unemployment rate hit 12.9 per cent in October compared to 9.2 per cent in October 2011, and 12.2 per cent in September this year. In the eurozone area the jobless rate rose to a record average of 11.7 per cent.

Cyprus, which is going through its worst recession in around four decades, was behind Greece, and ahead of Spain and Portugal. And it is set to get worse in the next two years.

According to government figures contained in the state budget, unemployment is expected to reach 13.8 per cent next year and peak at 14.2 per cent in 2014 before dropping a year later.

Read more: EU jobless rate hits record high, Cyprus at 12.9 per cent - Cyprus Mail

The U.S. productivity farce - by Pedro da Costa

Economists don’t agree on much but they do tend to converge on one idea – productivity improvements are the key to long-term prosperity. Except that who benefits from productivity increases matters as much as the efficiency gains themselves, according to two reports from the liberal Economic Policy Institute in Washington.

The first finds that rising income inequality in the United States means that the benefits of better productivity are accruing mainly to the very wealthy. The EPI offers this startling nugget of data as basic food for thought: U.S. productivity grew 80.4 percent from 1973 to 2011, while average hourly compensation rose just 39.2 percent in the same period, and median compensation, which excludes outliers, gained a paltry 10.7 percent.

Read more The U.S. productivity farce | MacroScope

Unemployment: Whirlpool to cut 5,000 jobs in US and Europe amid weak demand

Whirlpool plans to cut 5,000 jobs, about 10% of its workforce in North America and Europe, as it faces soft demand and higher costs for materials.

The world's biggest appliance maker also on Friday cut its 2011 earnings outlook drastically and reported third-quarter results that missed expectations, hurt by higher costs and a slowdown in emerging markets.

For more: Whirlpool to cut 5,000 jobs in US and Europe amid weak demand | Detroit Free Press | freep.com

US Economy: Job growth ground to a halt in August - "stimulus programs are not the answer"

Employment growth ground to a halt in August, as sagging consumer confidence discouraged already skittish U.S. businesses from hiring, keeping pressure on the Federal Reserve to provide more monetary stimulus to aid the struggling economy.

Note EU-Digest: a monetary stimulus would be more water down the drain. Job creation programs are what is needed and US corporations must be forced to get involved in these programs instead of hoarding their profits abroad and paying none or hardly any taxes on their profits.

For more: Job growth ground to a halt in August - TODAY News - TODAY.com

The Netherlands: Left-wing parties pledge to work towards 'a different Netherlands'

The three leaders of the country's main left-wing parties pledged to work together to bring about 'a different Netherlands' at a joint congress in Amsterdam on Sunday.

The meeting was called by Labour leader Job Cohen to strengthen the profile of the opposition in the run-up to the March provincial elections.

Cohen described the gathering as historic, but did not announce any future plans, the NRC says in its coverage of the event.

For more: DutchNews.nl - Left-wing parties pledge to work towards 'a different Netherlands'

EU-Digest/Forbes: Europe's Best And Worst Countries To Find A Job -

For the complete report from Forbes.com click on this link

The Euro Zone may be crawling out of recession, but it's still almost impossible in parts of the Continent to find a job. Though in Q3, gross domestic product for the 16 countries using the Euro grew by 0.4% from the second quarter, according to Eurostat, many residents continue to be unable to secure work. Those in countries like Latvia, Spain and Ireland, which once enjoyed construction booms, are now experiencing widespread job losses.

The countries with the best employment opportunities are: The Netherlands (4.8% unemployment), Switzerland ( 4.2%), Norway ( 3.2%).
For the complete list click on this link.