27. Flexicurity

This chapter examines the emergence, development and contemporary significance of flexicurity, which can be thought of as a policy approach that aims to ensure labour market flexibility while simultaneously providing workers with employment security. This idea has been influential in shaping policy objectives, particularly in Europe. The chapter describes the emergence of the flexicurity concept in the Netherlands and Denmark in the 1990s and how it subsequently became a prominent component of the European Commission's economic and social policy agenda. The chapter goes on to examine the views of those who were critical of flexicurity and how the 2008 financial crisis and its aftermath further fuelled their criticisms, as European Union member states sought to increase labour market flexibility and weaken social protections. However, while the crisis presented a strong challenge to flexicurity, it did not prove fatal to the concept, which continues to provide orientation to key European Union policy initiatives such as the European Pillar of Social Rights (EPSR). The chapter critiques the EPSR, arguing that while the Commission has partially resuscitated the social dimension, it has also sought to preserve a policy status quo involving a commitment to supply-side policies, flexible labour markets and ‘employment security’ achieved through measures to increase workers’ ‘employability’, occupational mobility and labour market participation. The chapter concludes with some remarks about potential future directions for flexicurity research.