European Restructuring Monitor (ERM)
Eurofound's ERM database on restructuring-related legal regulations provides information on regulations in the Member States of the European Union and Norway which are explicitly or implicitly linked to anticipating and managing change.
Employment Contracts Act § 28 (5)
For the purpose of development of the professional knowledge and skills of employees, the employer is obliged to provide the employees with training based on the interests of the employer’s enterprise and bear the training expenses and pay average wages during the training. There are no specific conditions.
According to the Estonian Work Life Survey 2015 (Statistics Estonia), around 77% of employees find it rather or very important to have opportunities for self-development at work; 68% of employees have used the opportunities offered by their employer during the last 12 months; 32% have not used those opportunities. According to the Employment Contract Survey, 7.8% of employees participated in work-related training in 2011, which is slightly higher than before the Employment Contract Act reform that came into force on 1 June 2009 - 6.5% in 2008 and around 3.5% in previous years (Masso et al, 2013).
Eurofound (2015), Estonia: Employers obligation to provide skill development plans or training, Restructuring legislation database, Dublin, https://apps.eurofound.europa.eu/legislationdb/employers-obligation-to-provide-skill-development-plans-or-training/estonia
Between the end of 2022 and the first half of 2023, almost 300,000 employees working for ‘big tech’ companies were laid off across the world, making headlines for months in global media. This development has been a shock, considering the high numbers of jobs in well-known tech corporations with a reputation for offering good working conditions and well-paid positions.
The retail banking sector is fertile ground for studying the impacts of digitalisation on work and employment. Financial services are increasingly provided online, without the intermediary of customer-facing institutions. Many banks in the sector have been undergoing serial restructuring since the global financial crisis, and it is one of the few service sectors with stagnant or declining employment.
Since 2011, the Restructuring support instruments database of the EU PolicyWatch has been collecting information on measures that assist companies and workers to anticipate and manage restructuring. This article looks at measures in the database aimed at supporting employees and employers during the COVID-19 pandemic (2020–2022).
Eurofound’s European Restructuring Monitor database reveals the impact of the energy crisis on employment in the EU. Following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, energy prices have hit record highs. The European Commission imposed sanctions and limitations on the import of oil and gas from Russia, which has reacted by reneging on supply commitments to many Member States.
