Is Europe’s economy built on poor quality jobs?

The EU is working on new rules to regulate the ‘gig economy’. 

The years since the 2008 financial crisis have been a period of stagnant wage growth and painful labour market adjustment. One of the most striking features of the post-crisis years has been the growth of things like zero-hour contracts, the so-called “gig economy”, and fixed-term employment contracts. For most people, the “job for life” has been replaced by a succession of “jobs for a year or two”.

Meanwhile, freelancing has flourished, with companies arguing their workers are actually self-employed (and therefore much easier to fire, with fewer social security costs for their employer to cover). Is this really a healthy economy?

What do our readers think? 

We had a comments sent in by Sophie and Patricia calling for measures to support better quality jobs. To get a response, we put them to Leïla Chaibi, a French MEP who is Vice-Chair of the Committee on Employment and Social Affairs and sits with The Left group in the European Parliament. You can see her responses in the video at the top of this post.

Is Europe’s economy built on poor quality jobs? 

Do freelance workers need better access to social protection? Let us know your thoughts and comments in the form below and we’ll take them to policymakers and experts for their reactions!

Photo by Kai Pilger on Unsplash

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