Ok Europe \ What Kind Of Europe For Work And Rights?

Which Europe for labor markets?

Joseph Stiglitz, Columbia University

Debate

The keynote speech was followed by a debate among key experts and stakeholders. In the debate, many issues and considerations were raised. The paragraphs below summarize the main topics addressed during the collective discussion.

Reproductive labor and the need for a revalorization of work

As digitalization becomes increasingly widespread in many professions, western societies face a growing labor segmentation. In fact, under the current economic system, productive and reproductive labor are extremely polarized. On the one hand, in most cases highly skilled workers operating in the service industry benefit from good working conditions and financial compensations. On the other hand, workers who perform reproductive labor (such as teachers, nannies, etc.), often face harsh working conditions and low salaries. The Covid-19 pandemic has exposed the crucial role of care labor (which has often been defined as ‘essential work’). Yet, public praises were rarely followed by an increase in salaries.

Such polarization sheds light on the issue of work’s value, and how value is attributed both socially and economically.

With the rising inflation and the cost of living rapidly increasing in most countries, the issue of compensation becomes crucial for the majority of workers. A promising initiative in this respect comes from the European Commission, which has recently proposed a Directiveon Minimum Wages (currently being discussed by the co-legislators).

This proposal has been received negatively by a number of opposing countries (including Italy), maintaining namely that a national minimum wage would decrease unions’ power in participating in collective bargaining. Nonetheless, the available literature on wage distribution and union participation suggests that the Minimum Wage Directive represents a promising policy intervention, which could improve the work of many European citizens.

Telework and the associated governance challenges

The surge of the Covid-19 pandemic has caused a rapid acceleration in the adoption of telework, both within the private and the public sector. The role of technology in driving this shift has been widely recognized, as the new remote forms of work have been technically made possible by a variety of online tools, such as teleconferencing software, project management programs and sector-specific solutions. However, the link between telework and the concept of work beyond the realm of employment has been much less explored in the public arena.

Telework, in fact, calls into question the very definition of work, and how such definition can be adapted to the contemporary economy.

The concept of work has been traditionally conflated with the idea of employment, whereby a specific spatial and temporal dimension set the boundaries of the professional sphere. It is important to notice, however, that technological advancement is reshaping work dynamics, blurring the lines between personal and professional times and spaces. This phenomenon has been exacerbated by the increase in telework, but it has been observed in other forms of work, such as digital labor and gig work. Addressing the scope of work outside the realm of formal employment is necessary in order to formulate appropriate policy responses.

Education, reskilling and upskilling

One of the main consequences of the rapid advancement of digital technologies, is the need to readjust education and to tailor it to the digitalized economy. More specifically, educational programs at all levels need to integrate digital tools as part of their strategy, as well as to strengthen STEM subjects. This objective, however, is challenging on many levels. First, with respect to high school education, teachers themselves would need to undergo specific training to learn how to properly develop lectures on and with new technologies. This alone would be a lengthy and costly process.

As concerns university education, bachelor and master’s degrees should provide more training on new technologies, and particularly the associated skills that are more relevant in the job market (such as data analytics, big data, and programming).

A promising solution to integrate these skills into more university programs could come from a collaboration with private companies, and the creation of more executive courses and joint research centers between public institutions and private companies. Finally, in the next years the issue of upskilling workers already in the market will become even more pressing, bring new challenges. These challenges include the strategies that companies will adopt to manage these processes, with the risk of companies just replacing workers with younger jobseekers entering the market. Companies, as well as workers, will also need to learn how to blend ‘traditional’ skills with the more recent digital skills.

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