EC policy actions priorities in employment,

and the potential of online exchanges to support employability and employment

James StewartJRC-IPTSSevillaJames.stewart@ec.europa.eu

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IPTS: Part of Joint Research Centre of the EC: 7 Research Institutes across Europe

Mission: “to provide customer-driven support to the EU policy-making process by developing science-based responses to policy challenges that have both a socio-economic as well as a scientific/technological dimension”

Joint Research Centre - Institute for Prospective Technological Studies

IPTS tools for research:Participation in FP projects, Research procurement, Experts workshops,networking…

EU policy developments: employment, social inclusion and digital inclusion

Policy background

European employment strategy (since 1997)• Open Method of Coordination• Advise, monitor and coordinate

Europe 2020 Strategy (since 2009)• European institutions, the member states and the social

partners• Smar,t sustainable, inclusive

Europe 2020 Strategy targets on Inclusive Growth

Increase employment from 69 to 75% of population:Focus on youth, older workers and low skilled workers, and the better integration of migrants

Improve educational levels through:Reducing school drop-out rates below 10%Increasing the share of the population having completed tertiary education, at least 40% of 30-34 years old

Promote social inclusion through:Reducing poverty levels: at least 20 million fewer people in or at risk of poverty and social exclusion

Europe 2020 Strategy

7 Flagship initiatives

Digital Agenda for Europe

An Agenda for New skills and Jobs

Youth on the Move

European Platform against Poverty

Innovation Union

Resource efficient Europe

An industrial policy forThe globalisation era

The big problem: Unemployment• Rising unemployment (euro area 12%; EU27 10.7% 26,3m

04-2013) and long term unemployment (4.1% 2011)

• Rising NEETs (14 mio in 2012, 48.1% unemployed rate) (Eurofound)

• 23,4% or 116 mio of EU population is at risk of poverty or exclusion in 2010, up 2 mio from 2009, worsening in 2011

• Women, children, youth and migrants are key vulnerable groups

• In-work poverty increasing: 1/3 of working age adults at risk of poverty are working in 2010

NEED NEW IDEAS;

EU Policy responses

• Employment Pack, Towards a Job rich recovery (18.4.2012)

• Social Investment Pack (20/2/2013)• Digital Agenda, planned next steps

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1. Employment Pack: “Towards a job-rich recovery”1. Support Job creation and reallocation of labour (improve labour market situation of more vulnerable groups)• Encouraging labour demand• Modernisation of EURES and public PES• Microfinance and social entrepreneurs• Exploit the job creation potential of key sectors (green economy,

health and social care, and ICT professional jobs)

2. Restore the dynamics of the labour markets• Reform labour markets (Flexicurity)

3. Investing in skills4. Towards a European labour market5. Enhance EU governance

2. Social Investment PackagePublished 20/2/2013

5 “Integrated Pillars” Members State will (with EC support):• 1. Increase the sustainability and adequacy of budgets for

social policies • 2. Pursue activating and enabling policies and provide

adequate livelihoods • 3. Invest across the life course, starting with children and

youth • 4. Innovate and reform social policy based on evidence • 5. Streamline monitoring, governance and information

Including (cfr 2.2, P11, MS to)

Close the gender pay gap and address other barriers to women’s and other underrepresented workers’ participation in the labour market, including by encouraging employers to address workplace discrimination and offer reconciliation measures (such as childcare services), adapted workplaces, including ICT-based solutions, eAccessibility, diversity management, programmes for up-skilling and training, for the recognition of skills and qualification as well as mobility

3. Digital Agenda for EuropeMid Term review (went through CIS, still under discussion)

Digital Inclusion -> Jobs and Skillshttp://daa.ec.europa.eu/group/12/content

On addressing the skills gap:• Accelerate massive and constant up- and re-skilling • Mapping of skills needs for training design • EC: Grand Coalition on ICT and jobs to address the ICT

skills gap (Kroes slide)On Social Media usage:• Stimulating innovative start-ups and SMEs that use social

media• Promote more collaborative public services

IPTS research on ICTs, Social Inclusion and EmployabilityIn support of the Digital Agenda, 5 year programme of research on • ICTs and migrants• ICTs and informal care for the elderly• ICT and youth• eInclusion Intermediaries• Digital Games and social inclusionShifting from work for DG CNECT to DG EMPL: mainstreaming

2012 ICTs and Employability (2 reports, IER, Warwick)What is employability, and how are ICTs implicated in development

and undermining employability?Pathways to and transitions in employment, specifically for groups

at risk groups?Role of social services, families, PES, local intermedairies,

employers, central gov. policy?12

ICTs and Future Work in the Network Economy: the role of Internet-based

work exchanges

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European Commission Employment Package 2012 Key Action 8 "Map new forms of employment…. Which make organisations more

agile and responsive to changes while boosting durable employment retention and job creation".

What does ‘Crowdsourcing’ mean for the future of Employment and

Employability, and policy in these areas?

Follow the hype….“Information Society”“Network Economy”

“Web2.0” “Social Media”

“ Wisdom of the Crowd”“Sharing economy”

Follow the hype….

Crowdsourcing (Howe,2006)

Software ->opensource projects

Texts and knowledge -> wikipedia, citizen journalism

Ideas/knowledge - > ‘(open) innovation’ ‘crowd creativity’, Politics-> online campaigns, government, law

Money - > Crowdfunding, peer to peer leaning

Making -> manufacturing markets

Sharing’ ->peer2peer economy/ social solidarity

‘Work’ -> microwork, elancing….., ‘distributed human

intelligence tasking’

‘

CrowdsourcingAn on-demand, online, distributed problem-solving,

financing and production model

combining top-down (control)

and bottom-up elements (voluntarism, ‘social’),

with a software-based intermediary coordinating tasks and facilitating a market

Crowd-sourcing <- Out-sourcing

1. Crowdsourced labourNew ways of finding work, finding workers,

being employed and getting work doneMTurk, Microtask, People per hour, Top

Coder, elance, innocentivMillions of workers, micro, mini-contracts‘Free’, ‘Cheap’, ‘Flexible’2. Crowdfunding Access to Capital and marketfor personal and community projects

leading to employment and/or increasing employability

Equity, donation, loans, rewardsIndiegogo Kickstarter, Mi Grano de Arena

Money Economy

Non-monetarised workIncreasing interest in how unpaid work is a crucial element

in building and demonstrating employability

3. ‘Virtual’ VolunteeringFind opportunitiesDoing voluntary work onlineOrganising voluntary work

Microvoluntarios, Help from home, Frivilligjob

4. Reciprocal exchange: Timebanks and complementary currenciesIn Europe since the 1990sHigh growth in last 5 yearsFacilitated by the internet and computers.

Timebanking UK, Fureai Kippu,LETS, timebanks.org

Research QuestionsLittle documented evidence to answer these, from

current range of services and practices, and from a user perspective. We need more data

1. How do new Internet-based systems based on exchange or donation of labour, or capital provision operate from both the user and operator perspectives?

2. What are the opportunities and challenges that each of these types of service and practice present to policy?

Objectives1.Database of Practices (Short and long cases)

2.State of the Art of practice

3.Analyse impact on working lives

4.Conclusions for future of employment, for policy and research

Unpack ‘ the crowd’

Research PartnersProject ‘Crowdemploy’Institute for employment

research, University of Warwick

David Boyle – timebanks, LETS and complementary currencies

Jayne Cravens – virtual volunteering

Javier Ramos - Crowdfnding

2104/07/23

Research design and outputsLiterature ReviewState of Art Reports written by expertsShort Case studies from interviews and literatureLong Cases – In-depth qualitative research on users and intermediaries

WP1Crowdemploy (Warwick)

Report and detailed cases

Jan-Sept 2013

WP2Crowdsourced

workreport and case

Mar-Jun

WP3Crowdfunding

Report and cases

WP4Internet-enabled work exchanges

(timebanks)

Report and cases

WP5Internet-mediated

volunteeringreport and cases

WP6WorkshopJune 2013

WP6IPTS analysis and

reportingJuly-DecOutputs:

•Expert Reports•Workshop in Brussels in June•Special edition or Book•Policy Report Nov 2013

• Models of social innovation in employment markets• Access to work : match demand and supply – lessons for PES?• New jobs: On-demand and flexible offer and demand for

independent workers and SMES.• European/Global labour market: new network, flexible

economy organisation.

• New ways of working/work: new skills requirements• New ways of learning skills and demonstrating them• Development and demonstration of skills through non-monetised

work (voluntary and reciprocal)• Services that have most use in Transitions in working life.• Microfinance and mentoring• Support for Entrepreneurship and social entrepreneurship

• Work to suit vulnerable citizens? Support reconciliation?• Social inclusion through unpaid work• Promotes social solidarity

Relevance to policy :

Some Issues for research and policy• Organisation of users/workers – representation?• Standardisation of work processes and quality control.• Presentation of self• Trust and reputation

• Exploitation and commodification of workers• Undermining existing employment• Low quality work• More exclusionary for vulnerable people:• New barriers to work• Outsourcing to non-EC countries v. development potential

• Abuse and gaming of systems• Arbitrary and uncontrolled lock out of workers and requesters

• Regulatory difficulties and challenges : finance, labour law.• Political discourses and acceptability of these types of work 24April 7, 2023

Help!

If you work in this area please let me know

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