By Denis Pennel - 2nd December 2011
People want more autonomy and freedom of choice, including flexibility and a more collaborative working environment
Denis Pennel
The reality of the workplace is changing as people adapt to the modern labour market, writes Denis Pennel.
Today’s labour market is characterised by a number of emerging trends which are changing the classic employment relationship. De-standardisation, individualism and intermediation are converging to create a new work reality.
De-standardisation manifests itself in several ways. An increasing diversity of work situations with multiple types of employee contract are in place across Europe.
Belgium, France and Italy each have over 30 different forms of labour contract and across the EU open ended contracts account for 40 per cent of the working population, including 33 million self employed workers.
Fordism as a dominant type of work organisation is on the wane and many new forms are emerging such as lean production or learning organisations.
There has been a rise in dispersed workforces with teleworking and network companies increasingly common.
A recent survey showed that 25 per cent of French employees often work in several locations. New technologies mean that work is less a place to go as it transcends time and space.
There is also increased working time flexibility as people seek greater work-life balance. Over the past 15 years, part-time employment in Europe has risen from 13 per cent to 18 per cent of total employment and 46 per cent in the Netherlands.
Furthermore, we are confronted with the demise of the education/work/pension clear-cut model: with both students and pensioners participating in the workforce.
Another trend having significant impact is the rise in individualism. Individuals have very different expectations of work depending on their age and the workforce has never been so diverse, as baby boomers work alongside generations X, Y and Z.
People want more autonomy and freedom of choice, including flexibility and a more collaborative working environment. As a consequence, there is increasing personalisation of employment and working conditions.
Compounding all of this is a labour market in perpetual motion. Every year in Europe, some 20 per cent of jobs are created and destroyed, and up to 30 per cent of all workers are hired or leave employers.
A young person entering the workplace today is likely to be able to count the number of jobs he has in double figures by the middle of his career and to work under a variety of contractual relationships.
Transitions and work mobility are key in modern labour markets where professional careers are no longer linear and secured. Occupational and geographic mobility will be essential to fight shortages of labour and Europe’s demographic crunch.
It matters less what type of contract workers hold than where these contracts lead: Eurostat figures show 62 per cent of temporary contracts lead to an open ended contract after three years.
Amid this moving picture there is an increasing role for labour market intermediaries to match skills with vacancies, workers’ personality with organisations and people’s individual constraints with work.
Organisations taking on a ‘life maintenance’ role are likely to emerge and provide the career guidance, training, social networking and reputation building formerly provided by employers.
This new reality also requires a new approach to social security and pensions with portability and transferability of rights to cope with multiplicity of jobs and employment status.
In the future, a diversity of labour contracts and employment status will be needed to increase labour market participation and ensure better functioning labour markets.
Today’s more volatile, complex and diverse world of work will require tailored HR solutions and individualised work arrangements and labour market intermediaries will play a key role in facilitating adaptation to these changes.
Denis Pennel is managing director of Eurociett
