Flexicurity : actions at company level

The aim of flexicurity is to improve employment opportunities for workers, while at the same time increasing flexibility, enabling organisations to adapt their operations and employment levels to business needs. The past few years have, however, been particularly challenging for European labour markets: the recent financial crisis and recession have had an inevitable negative impact on EU labour markets and unemployment levels. This has called into question the effectiveness of the flexicurity strategy in terms of supporting vulnerable workers. Eurofound research in six EU Member States analysed company initiatives targeting young workers, older workers and women. It shows that there needs to be a solid business case for the introduction of such initiatives and that social dialogue involvement increases the success rate. Drivers for success are a company's desire for maintaining and improving diversity of workforce, the company culture and the specific national, regional and local context in which companies operate.