Spain’s unemployment rate fell for the second straight year in 2014, but at 23.7 percent the country’s labor market still faces a long road to recovery. Last year, the country’s large services sector took on more staff, driven by a strong tourist season and a rebound in construction activity. Unlike the unemployment decrease of 2013, which was caused by a decline in the labor force, last year’s drop was due to the creation of jobs, according to economists. However, the vast majority of the new jobs that were created are temporary. Economists warn that the sky-high youth jobless rate (51.8 percent) is still a major drag on an economic turnaround in Spain.
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On Jan. 1, 2015, the Dutch Work and Security Act went into effect, overhauling rules on temporary employment contracts, employee termination and unemployment benefits, bringing major changes to employers. The reforms include numerous provisions for temporary employment contracts, create a new statutory entitlement to severance pay and reduce the maximum duration of unemployment benefits beginning in 2016. The changes to contract employment aim to close the gap between temporary and permanent employment in the Netherlands, while a new dismissal law aims to make the laws governing termination of employment fairer, simpler and less costly. The maximum duration of unemployment benefits from social security will gradually decrease from 38 months to 24 months between 2016 and 2019.
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Italy’s Parliament has approved reforms to make the country’s job market more flexible. The Jobs Act simplifies hiring and firing rules for firms by cancelling the right of workers to reinstatement in most cases of layoffs. It also broadens the current unemployment welfare system and introduces a new single contract that gives all new employees progressive job security. The reform was strongly contested by unions and leftist parties who believe it will significantly reduce protections for new employees without significantly affecting current levels of unemployment, which reached a record high of 13.4 percent last year.
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Irish employers have increased the number of jobs advertised in 2014’s fourth quarter by 26 percent compared to the same period in 2013, according to the latest Robert Walters European Job Index. Ireland experienced the largest year-over-year increase in advertising volumes across Europe, followed by Germany, Switzerland and France, which saw ads increase by 23 percent, 12 percent and 11 percent, respectively. The figures reflect Ireland’s increased levels of job activity across all sectors, following a year of strong economic growth. Ads for senior management and strategic roles grew by 33 percent, while those for secretarial and support roles rose 30 percent. Businesses are also increasingly hiring at the executive level.
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Germany’s underground economy is predicted to rise in 2015 as the country’s newly implemented national minimum wage forces more people to seek work “in the shadows.” A team of German and Austrian researchers have warned in a new study that 2015 will mark the year that the underground economy – where money is exchanged for services without paying taxes or social security contributions – will bounce back after decades of decline.
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France plans to spend almost US$485 million over the next three years for new measures to fight home-grown terrorism, including hiring 2,600 counterterrorism officers — 1,100 of them specifically for intelligence services. The government also now says it will cut 7,500 fewer jobs from the military than initially planned to better fight terrorism.
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As of Jan. 1, 2015, people living anywhere in the world can become “digital citizens” of Estonia without physically entering the country. The e-residency program intends to attract around 10 million digital citizens by 2025—more than seven times Estonia’s current population. According to the government, the initiative is to make life and business easier for non-resident foreigners who remotely invest, trade, work or study in Estonia.