Skilled and Precarious - final Conference

17^th February 2012

Trapped or flexible? Risk transitions and missing policies for young highly-skilled workers in Europe is a research project funded by the European Commission, DG Employment, Social Affairs & Inclusion.

Precarious workers occupy a grey area where basic employment and social protection rights are often significantly reduced, giving rise to a situation of uncertainty in all spheres of life.

The project wants to emphasise not only the occupational conditions of precarious workers, but - in a broader sense - the influence of a situation of uncertainty on crucial choices in the private life of the young Europeans.

Young people are indeed far more likely than other groups to be employed in precarious and insecure jobs, independently from their education and skills.

The effects of precarious employment might be particularly negative and persistent on young workers as problematic early experiences of transitions into work are likely to be associated with a general reduction in long term life chances (the so called “scarring effect”).

The increasing diffusion of precarious jobs among young people, including highly educated ones, represents also a social costs as the waste of young highly educated human resources reduces growth perspectives, while extending the poverty risks and the income inequalities within and between generations, with high budget costs related to lower fiscal revenues and higher social expenditures.

The project focuses on the risks faced by high skilled workers to become unemployed or to be forced to accept less qualified jobs and the ways to encourage the conversion of precarious work into work with rights.

The research activities included:

• A comparative analysis of the employment conditions of young highly skilled workers in the EU27 Member States.
• An assessment of the policies adopted in European countries to support the employability of young workers and to extend their access to social protection.
• Three in depth country case studies (Italy, Spain and the UK) to better understand the causes of differences and similarities in the labour market conditions of young skilled people. In each country, the analysis of the employment conditions of young highly skilled workers, was complemented by a qualitative investigation, based on in depth interviews to about 30 young skilled workers. Focus groups involving different stakeholders were also set up to discuss policies to guarantee young people jobs consistent with their skills and secure enough to plan a long-term future, both professionally and in their private and family lives.
   

Programme:

9.00 a.m. - Official Opening and Greetings

9.30 a.m. - Precarious work and young skilled workers: a European comparative analysis - Istituto per la Ricerca Sociale

10.00 a.m. - Italian case study - Dipartimento di Sociologia e Ricerca Sociale dell'Università degli Studi di Trento

10.30 a.m. - Spanish case study - Centro de Estudios Económicos Tomillo

11.00 a.m. - UK case study - Institute for Employment Studies

11.30 a.m. - Coffee Break

12.00 p.m. - Round table: Risk transitions and missing policies for young high-skilled workers in Europe

Participants:

Moderator:

• Roberto Pettenello, CGIL
• Daniela Tebaidi, Confindustria
• Olga Turrini, Labour Policy Expert
• Nadio Delai, Ermeneia
• Paolo Ghezzi, Journalist L’Adige

The official languages of the conference are English and Italian.

The leaflet is on the download box.