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...

This report outlines the proceedings from a Foundation seminar on the theme of interactions between the labour market and social protection. The main conclusion to emerge is that interactions between the labour market and social protection are complex but very necessary in the current situation...

Part-time work has become increasingly commonplace in the European Union. This report explores the profile of part-time workers and analyses the main factors underlying the development of part-time work practices. It also analyses the quality of work and employment conditions faced by part-time...