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IWS Documented News Service
_______________________________
Institute for Workplace Studies----------------- Professor Samuel B. Bacharach
School of Industrial & Labor Relations-------- Director, Institute for Workplace Studies
Cornell University
16 East 34th Street, 4th floor---------------------- Stuart Basefsky
New York, NY 10016 -------------------------------Director, IWS News Bureau
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European Commission

SPECIAL EUROBAROMETER 377

EMPLOYMENT AND SOCIAL POLICY [29 November 2011]

Summary

http://ec.europa.eu/public_opinion/archives/eb_special_379_360_en.htm#377

or

http://ec.europa.eu/public_opinion/archives/ebs/ebs_377_sum_en.pdf

A new Eurobarometer survey on employment issues and social affairs shows that more than a third of European citizens currently working are concerned about losing their jobs. However, the general sense of gloom about society as a whole – and about the chances of the economic crisis ending quickly – has not translated into a crisis of confidence when it comes to the way in which most respondents view their own prospects. Europeans generally consider that the impact of the EU on employment and social policies in their country is beneficial; it matters a great deal for European confidence – not to mention the EU itself – that ordinary citizens are aware of the EU’s efforts to tackle the problems that are such a source of anxiety today.

CONTENTS

INTRODUCTION ................................................................................................. 3

1. EUROPEANS' ATTITUDES TOWARDS EMPLOYMENT ........................................ 7

1.1 Europeans' support for ‘flexicurity’ .................................................................. 7

1.2 Poverty in the EU ......................................................................................... 9

2. CONFIDENCE RISE IN RETAINING EMPLOYMENT ......................................... 12

3. JOB SEEKING ............................................................................................... 13

3.1 Job seeking strategies ................................................................................ 13

3.2 Perceived obstacles to starting a business...................................................... 14

3.3 The importance of qualifications and professional experience ............................ 16

4. TRAINING ................................................................................................... 17

4.1 Participation in training ............................................................................... 17

4.2 The help of training to find employment ........................................................ 18

5. TRAINEESHIP .............................................................................................. 19

5.1 Participation in traineeship .......................................................................... 19

5.2 Assessments of the value of traineeships in finding a job ................................. 20

5.3 The need for information about the likely skill requirements to find a job ........... 21

6. PERCEPTIONS OF EU EMPLOYMENT AND SOCIAL POLICIES ......................... 22

6.1 Familiarity with the European Social Fund and European Globalisation Adjustment

Fund .............................................................................................................. 22

6.2 Impact of the EU on employment and social policy .......................................... 23

CONCLUSION................................................................................................... 29

ANNEXES

Technical note

Tables

Questionnaire

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Stuart Basefsky                   
Director, IWS News Bureau                
Institute for Workplace Studies 
Cornell/ILR School                        
16 E. 34th Street, 4th Floor             
New York, NY 10016                        
                                   
Telephone: (607) 262-6041               
Fax: (607) 255-9641                       
E-mail: smb6@cornell.edu                  
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