Labour shortages – turning away from bad jobs

Policy recommendations

Rising labour shortages reflect structural shifts, including the digital and green transitions, as well as a cyclical component in the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic.
The policy debate tends to focus on the need for skills and, where they are deemed to be missing, on bringing in those skills through immigration and mobility. Most discussions ignore the role of job quality, even though labour shortages have increased most and are worst in jobs with lower wages and worse conditions.
Tight labour markets can provide workers with opportunities, to some extent making up for the slow erosion of workers’ bargaining power over time. Indeed, this can lead to higher wages, better conditions and higher equality of wages overall.
It is now necessary to support workers and sectors in improving conditions. This can be done by embracing higher minimum standards on wages and quality of work. This aspect should not be neglected.

Labour shortages – turning away from bad jobs - European Economic, Employment and Social Policy, 2023 DOWNLOAD

Legislating human rights due diligence: opportunities and potential pitfalls to the French duty of vigilance law

Publications

By Anna Triponel and John Sherman Introduction On the evening of 23 March 2017, just as the deadline for a decision was approaching, the French Constitutional Court declaredthat the French law on the duty of vigilance (or duty of care) owed by pare...Read More

TAGS: Supplier Management Europe

Labour on a Shoestring: The Realities of Working in Europe’s Shoe Manufacturing Peripheries in Albania, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Macedonia, Poland, Romania and Slovakia

Publications

Often consumers in Western Europe believe that “Made in Europe” is a synonym for working conditions that are better than in production countries in Asia. This report shows that this is not always the case, and that problematic working conditions...Read More

TAGS: Europe

National Hotline 2019 Hawaii State Report

Graphics & InfographicsPublications

The data in this report represents signals and cases from January 1, 2019 through December 31, 2019 and is accurate as of July 30, 2020. Cases of trafficking may be ongoing or new information may revealed to the National Hotline over time. Consequen...Read More

TAGS: North America

Symposium: Modeling Modern Slavery Risk

Publications

In July 2018, the Walk Free Foundation released the latest Global Slavery Index (GSI), which presents estimates for the number of victims of modern slavery in 167 countries. Using data from the Gallup World Poll’s module on modern slavery, which w...Read More

TAGS: