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.
4 Royal Decree-law 3/2011; 9 Royal Decree law 801/2011; 19 Law 3/2012; 9, 10,11 and 12 Royal Decree 7/2015; Art 56, Law 3/2023.
There are no specific public support measures ( or active labour market policies) for redundant employees, although sometimes specific advice/guidance measures are developed in order to address particular cases of restructuring. These measures were, for instance, included in the tripartite agreement for the coal industry (2013-2018).
Active Labour Market Policies (ALMP) addressing the unemployed are managed by the regional government through the Regional Public Employment Services. In 2011, the socialist government enacted a new reform aiming to increase coordination between the national and regional Public Employment Services (Royal Decree law 3/2011). The reform approved the so-called Annual Plan of the Employment Policies (article 5). This strategy sets up the annual goals that regional public employment services must try to achieve.
In 2015, the popular party government regulated a catalogue with common ALMP services to be offered in the whole Spanish territory (Royal Decree 7/2015, art. 9,10,11 and 12). It establishes that all unemployed are entitled to receive the following ALMP services:
In addition to this, Law 3/2023 of 28 February on Employment, which allows for the modernisation of public employment services, added extra services. The basis of this new regulation is personalised accompaniment with a catalogue of guaranteed services. The number of groups receiving preferential attention increases, including priority attention for employment policies for workers from sectors undergoing restructuring. With the aim of facilitating access to decent, quality employment and improving the employability of people seeking employment services, the following are guaranteed, for example: the preparation of an individualised user profile; individual tutoring and continuous advice and personalised attention, both face-to-face and off-site, during labour transitions (either between education and employment or between employment and unemployment situations); or a personalised itinerary or plan adapted to their profile, which will require the formalisation of an activity agreement signed between the public employment service and the user.
The distinction between redundant and non-redundant unemployed does not exist in the laws regulating the Public Employment Services or the Active Labour Market Policies (ALMP). Distinctions are made, for instance, in terms of long-term unemployed and unemployed or in terms of young unemployed (see for instance youth guarantee programme). As a result, redundant and non-redundant unemployed are entitled to receive the same support. Overall, the effectiveness of public support to unemployed has been questioned by scholars because investment in ALMP has traditionally been underdeveloped, especially in terms of the ratio of clients to employment counselling staff and the main focus has lied on employment subsidies (Lope and Alós, 2013; Miguélez et al, 2015).
A macroeconomic assessment of a variety of active labour market policies for the period 1987–2010 carried out by Arranz et al (2013) found that that employment subsidies for permanent contracts had no notable effect on aggregate levels of permanent or temporary employment. However, they do appear to have had a small positive effect on transitions from unemployment to employment, and from temporary to permanent employment, particularly since the 1997 labour reform.
Eurofound (2015), Spain: Redundant employees entitlement to public support, Restructuring legislation database, Dublin, https://apps.eurofound.europa.eu/legislationdb/redundant-employees-entitlement-to-public-support/spain
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.
