How EU-countries try to tackle labour market shortages
Demographic developments and a strong recovery of the labour market in the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic have exacerbated labour shortages in the EU. In this report, Eurofound shows trends in labour shortages and which policy measures have been implemented in different sectors in EU-countries to tackle these shortages.
The objective of this project was to explore and assess the effectiveness and efficiency of a list of national policy measures taken to address labour shortages in sectors where longer standing shortages have been further exacerbated by the Covid-19 pandemic, specifically the health, care and ICT sectors and sectors and occupations linked to the twin digital and green transitions.
Panteia conducted two case studies in the Netherlands: the Buurtzorg model of care and capacity planning in the heathcare sector. All forty measures can be found in the full report.
The study shows that the most successful interventions share a set of commonalities including a clear assessment of the drivers of shortage, targeting of beneficiaries, a high degree of adaptability and learning, and ongoing monitoring and assessments of outcomes through robust methodologies. It also shows that holistic policy interventions that target the multifaceted nature of shortages can lead to better outcomes at both individual and aggregate levels.
