This case study focuses on the measures used by ArcelorMittal to cut costs and avoid involuntary redundancies during the crisis in its largest Romanian subsidiary. The study aims to assess the effectiveness of the various measures applied to keep staff in employment and to ensure the company’s...

Europe is slowly emerging from one of the deepest recessions on record with the European Commission predicting positive growth in the third quarter of 2009. The third issue for 2009 includes: current macroeconomic trends and prospects; an overview of ERM statistics for July-September 2009;...

The collapse of package-holiday giant XL Leisure Group made front-page news in September 2008, with tens of thousands of British holidaymakers stranded in airports across Europe and hundreds of employees made redundant. As the company’s assets were frozen, flights grounded and holidays...

The EU emerged from recession in the third quarter of 2009 but growth remains anaemic ( 0.3%, EU27) and well below trend rates. Unemployment notably continues to rise and its pace of increase has accelerated in the most recent quarter to reach the highest levels in over a decade (9.5%, EU27)....

ProAct is a £48 million programme launched by the Welsh Assembly Government (WAG) in response to the economic crisis. Through social partner engagement, the Welsh Assembly Government developed and implemented the ProAct initiative in a matter of two to three months with the aim of helping...

While there has been some recovery since the depths of the Great Recession in 2009, both output and employment levels remain lower than they were pre-crisis in the EU-27. Indeed, the severity of the recession has been such that output has yet to return to 2007 levels in each of the largest...

This case study looks at the way in which the Plansee Group in Austria has sought to ensure a ‘soft landing’ for employees affected by the global economic downturn. Having seen a collapse in demand in 2008, primarily in the parts of its business supplying metal products to the ailing vehicle...

In recent years, new evidence and conclusions on the characteristics of innovation across the economy as a whole have given rise to new theories and new approaches to policy. There is a reference group of eight countries for this report: Denmark, Finland, Germany, Japan, the Netherlands, Sweden,...

A summary is now available of the discussions which took place over the two-day conference, 'Employment and labour market insertion strategies as a tool for social inclusion', hosted by the Foundation and the Spanish Ministry of Employment and Social Affairs. The conference examined how active...

This report presents an analysis of initiatives in Greece that aim to achieve better coordination of employment activation measures. The report identifies measures in both policy and practice for improving coordination, including strategic as well as operational measures, and underlines the...