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Showing posts with label Employment. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Employment. Show all posts

January 29, 2018

The Netherlands: International businesses create more than 125.000 jobs in the Netherlands - by Mina Solanki

The Netherlands, not only tulips, also great professional jobs
If you are working in the Netherlands, your job may have directly or indirectly been made available by an international business.

In 2017, according to figures from the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Climate Policy, 357 international businesses collectively invested more than 1,67 billion euros in the Dutch economy, creating 12.686 jobs in the Netherlands.

Minister of Economic Affairs and Climate Policy, Eric Wiebes, is pleased with the figures from last year, as these show that the Netherlands is profiting from its favourable investment climate. In saying, “1,4 million Dutch people have a job, be it directly or indirectly, thanks to these businesses”, Wiebes expressed the importance of international companies for the Netherlands.

Read more: International businesses create more than 125.000 jobs in the Netherlands

July 2, 2017

The Netherlands: Quarter of IT firms in the Netherlands have staff shortages

One in four information technology firms in the Netherlands say their production has been down since April because they are short of staff, the national statistics office CBS said on Tuesday.

The IT sector has been most affected by the tight jobs market since the first quarter of 2015 when one out of every nine IT companies had staffing problems. Until then the mining sector (gas, oil) had the biggest need for employees.

There were 12,300 job vacancies in the IT sector in the first quarter of 2017, equating to 6.3% of the national total, the CBS said. The catering sector (hotels, restaurants, cafés) report an 11.3% shortage, industry 9.9% and construction 7.6%.


Read more: Quarter of IT firms in the Netherlands have staff shortages - DutchNews.nl

May 11, 2017

France: Macron’s four European priorities - by Aline Robert

Prfesident of France: Emmanuel Macron
According to polling company BVA, the top three issues for Macron’s voters were the European Union, unemployment and social security.

In the short term, France’s new president will address the subjects of employment, security and refugees, as liberal MEP Sylvie Goulard explained to EURACTIV.fr before the election.

The most ambitious of Macron’s promises concerns the governance of the eurozone. As things stand, the unfinished architecture of the Economic and Monetary Union leaves a lot to be desired. Decisions are made behind closed doors, without the slightest degree of democratic control, providing ample ammunition and an easy target for Eurosceptics.

For Macron, reformed eurozone governance should include the creation of a real eurozone budget, capable of absorbing asymmetric shocks and avoiding imbalances that harm the whole currency zone.

But France can hardly claim leadership on such an urgent and sensitive issue until it has regained budgetary credibility with Brussels and Berlin. Germany, which is sceptical of the creation of a common fund that would see it lose out under current circumstances, would never agree to such reforms as long as Paris fails to get its books in order.

The En Marche leader wants to organise “conventions” across the whole of the EU, to discuss the actions and priorities the bloc should adopt. Concretely, this would be an attempt to bring grass-roots ideas into government; a method that worked for En Marche during the campaign.

It is also aimed at provoking debate between Europeans by involving people of different nationalities in spontaneous and flexible discussions. Here, there is no question of imposing a single format, as each country would organise its convention in its own way.

Brushed aside as an unrealistic display of utopianism by Macron’s critics, the idea relies on a kind of political marketing that consists of scanning society for problems and potential solutions.

A measure of the success of these conventions will be whether they attract anyone beyond the policy geeks and political science students that seem to make up the exclusive audience of the formal debates organised by the European Commission.

Rethinking representative democracy:

F or Macron, the European electoral system is already proportional enough. In fact, this is what has led to the presence in the European Parliament of such large numbers of politicians who could not get elected in their home countries, including Marine Le Pen, Nigel Farage and Jean-Luc Mélenchon.

But a different kind of reform, the new president believes, is possible. He plans to have the 72 seats left vacant after the departure of the UK in 2019 set aside for candidates on federal, pan-European lists.

However, the other European capitals may well have different plans for these seats, such as to redistribute them or even abolish them altogether. After all, the Parliament has no less than 751 seats already.

Finally, as a newcomer, Macron will have to make his mark on the international scene. He may lack experience outside France but he has nonetheless spent the last six months fighting the extreme-right at home.

And he has promised to promote France’s republican values, on issues like the rule of law, to countries such as Poland, Hungary and Russia. The president-elect also referred to the possibility of invoking the “sanctions foreseen under the treaties” to deal with the behaviour of Poland and Hungary.

So far, the Commission has taken the first step of activating its rule of law safeguards in Poland. Further sanctions would have to be agreed upon unanimously by the member states.

While he has said little on the matter of Russia so far, Macron will surely not forget the systematic smear campaign led by Kremlin-sponsored media outlets Sputnik and Russia Today. En Marche ended up banning journalists from these organisations from its campaign events.

Both organizations are directly financed by Russia with the aim of spreading Moscow’s propaganda. The Kremlin, on the other hand, openly supported the more Russia-friendly candidates Marine Le Pen and François Fillon, both of whom were ready to end sanctions against Russia.

Read more: Macron’s four European priorities – EURACTIV.com

April 20, 2016

The Netherlands: Shell to slash 2,000 Netherlands jobs - by Janene Pieters

Shell is cutting some 2 thousand jobs in the Netherlands. The oil company aims to get rid of 15 to 20 percent of the abut 10 thousand employees working in Amsterdam and Rijswijk as part of a cost cutting plan to cope with the low oil prices, AD reports.

The company launched a voluntary departure scheme. Office staff with a salary of 75 thousand euros per year or higher can resign voluntarily for compensation. Employees can register for voluntary departure until July 1st.

According to union FNV, Shell is hoping to avoid an official reorganization with the voluntary departure scheme. “Shell first wants to see whether enough employees volunteer”, director Egbert Schellenberg said to the newspaper.

Employees working at the Pernis refinery and the petrochemical complex in Moerdijk do not qualify for the voluntary departure scheme as those two branches already face staff shortages.

Read more: Shell to slash 2,000 Netherlands jobs - NL Times

September 3, 2015

Eurozone surprises with fall in unemployment

A sharp decline in Italy has helped the Eurozone’s unemployment figures fall to their lowest level in more than three years.

The unexpected fall surprised analysts. It now stands at 10.9%, and for the entire 28-member EU unemployment is at 9.5%, the lowest since June 2011.

Eurozone unemployment had been stubbornly stuck at over 11% for the last three months, but the picture remains uneven. Although youth unemployment at last showed signs of dropping after years of posting above-average figures, in some countries the young unemployed see little change.

For example, Europe’s unemployment leaders, Germany at 4.7% and Malta and the Czech Republic, with 5.1%, have found jobs for nearly all their school leavers, but in Greece and Spain, with 25% and 22% unemployment respectively, the drain of young workers abroad continues as their economies offer nothing for them.

Within the Eurozone only three members saw their unemployment rise in July; Finland, Lithuania, and France.

Read more: Eurozone surprises with fall in unemployment | euronews, economy

January 5, 2015

The future of Europe - Navel Staring European Politicians - Mrs Merkel the only exception with vision

Mrs. Merkel - a true European visionary with political skills
An Observer editorial notes: "Seventy years after the founders of modern Europe set out to bring stability, unity and prosperity to a war-ravaged continent, Europe and its principal political manifestation, the European Union, face a renewed, potentially defining struggle against the re-energised forces of internal division and fragmentation and external hostility and encroachment.

The scale of this challenge has yet to be fully appreciated. Its outcome is wholly uncertain. In consequence, 2015 may prove a fateful year for all the peoples of Europe.

The challenge comprises many elements, chief of which is whether the politics of austerity will be replaced by a more flexible, people-friendly economic regimen. Austerity, mainly in the form of public spending cuts and attempted deficit reduction, has wrought huge human and social damage. One key measure of pain is unemployment. In Spain, joblessness stands at around 23%. In Greece, the figure is 25%. In some areas of France and Italy, youth unemployment topped 40% at its highest point. Across the EU in 2013, 26 million people were unemployed, or one in eight of all workers. Many millions more are underemployed.

Austerity has caused tremendous political as well as social strain. The tough line dictated by chancellor Angela Merkel of Germany, who will arrive in London this week, is increasingly resented and there are clear signs of push-back. France’s new prime minister, Manuel Valls, introduced a €30bn reform package designed to boost business and jobs. His boss, President François Hollande, an old-school socialist, openly reviles Merkel’s “neoliberal” policy and its main underpinning, the European stability pact governing national budgets.

“To reform is to affirm our priorities, while refusing austerity,” Valls declared. Another newcomer, Italian premier Matteo Renzi, described as “Merkel’s most dangerous rival”, also links structural reform to a loosening of EU rules, notably Merkel’s holy grail, the 2012 fiscal pact. In November, both countries won budget reprieves from the European commission.

Still the only European leader who can credibly claim international statesman stature, Merkel, who is coming to London on Wednesday for talks with David Cameron on a range of issues, including the European economy, faces increasing criticism at home, not least from her centre-left vice-chancellor and coalition partner, Sigmar Gabriel. He argues the rise of right- and leftwing populism across Europe can only be checked by rapid economic improvements.


Nor can Merkel count on useful support from the new European commission president, Jean-Claude Juncker, or, more surprisingly, from Britain’s government, fellow champion of austerity and no friend to Hollande. In more skilful hands, David Cameron’s calls for EU reform might have meshed well with German priorities for sound money and stability, but Cameron has recklessly squandered European alliances and opportunities. In any case, he may soon be out of office.

While recent indicators suggest the worst of the recession is over, the full extent of the political fallout at grassroots level across Europe is only now becoming apparent. Elections this year in Greece, Spain, the UK, Denmark, Finland, Poland, Portugal and Estonia will provide further proof of the fragmentation of postwar consensus politics as erstwhile minority parties come to the fore.

In Britain, Ukip, the Greens and the Scottish Nationalists are aiming to usurp the traditional centre-left and centre-right parties. Likewise in Greece and Spain, it seems the centre cannot hold against a surge in support for the populist, anti-austerity leftwing insurgents of Syriza and Podemos respectively. In Sweden, the two mainstream parties, desperate to keep the far-right Sweden Democrats out of government, conspired to form a Merkel-style grand coalition, thereby effectively denying voters real choice. Finland faces a similar dilemma over its hard-right, anti-immigrant party.

Last year’s European parliament elections revealed unprecedented, pan-European dissatisfaction with politics as usual, but Brussels took scant notice, installing Juncker, a quintessential establishment figure, and creating a centrist coalition in parliament. Out of touch hardly describes such complacent behaviour. The significance of the rise of Europe’s new parties can no longer be denied, nor can they be dismissed as mere, temporary protest movements.

Yet Europe’s new politics, organic in nature and fast evolving, cannot be easily quantified or defined. Some, such as the Pegida demonstrators in Germany, are motivated by racist and anti-Muslim views. Merkel was entirely right last week to condemn them. But a new poll showed one in eight Germans sympathises with Pegida. Such views have a more pernicious, formal presence on Germany’s political stage in the shape of the anti-euro, anti-foreigner Alternative für Deutschland, which is eclipsing the old Free Democrats in the way Ukip may eclipse Britain’s Liberal Democrats.

In each country, new parties produce new imponderables. In Greece, for example, the growth of leftwing radicalism is in part a response to the advancing neo-Nazis of Golden Dawn. In the case of some of Europe’s secessionists, meanwhile, self-determination and economic justice have sometimes been confused with an unattractive, exclusionary nationalism. There is one constant: everywhere, it seems, immigration is an issue of concern.

The overall effect of these powerful and often conflicting currents is plain: in prospect is an unstable landscape of weak and fragile national governments, escalating friction over EU policies, intensifying north-south eurozone strains and a growing inability to present a united European front to the world.

A united front is required more than ever, as Europe faces the triple challenge of mass movements of people, Russian aggression and Islamist extremism. Almost alone among Europe’s leaders, Merkel continues bravely to make the case for accepting refugees from conflict in Syria, Libya, Iraq, Somalia and elsewhere. But as the plight of asylum-seekers trapped on the Ezadeen, which arrived in Italy yesterday, again demonstrated, this is an enormous international problem.

Most European states, including Britain, have not begun to face up to their responsibilities in dealing with mass migration and tackling the roots of the religious extremism that often causes displacement.
After Vladimir Putin dismembered a European country by annexing Crimea,

 Europe enters 2015 lacking certainty, for the first time since the cold war, that its borders are secure. It was left to Merkel, again, to point out in November that Putin’s attempt to re-establish Soviet-era spheres of influence affects not only Ukraine, Georgia and Moldova, but countries much closer to Europe’s heart, such as Serbia and Bosnia, and EU members Hungary and Slovakia.

Russia’s expansionist and anti-democratic outlook recalls the worst aspects of the legacy Europe fought to overcome after 1945. The struggle for a Europe whole, prosperous and free has now returned with a vengeance."

EU-Digest

January 2, 2015

Corporate Global Control: The Illusion Of Choice: These 10 Companies Are Responsible For Virtually Everything Around You

A chart via Reddit shows how ten huge corporations control the production of almost everything the average person buys, from food to clothes to hygienic products.

$84 billion-company Proctor & Gamble is the largest advertiser in the U.S. and owns enough brands to serve 4.8 million people around the world, according to LinkedIn.

Nestle is famous for its chocolate, but the $200 billion-corporation is also the biggest food company in the world. It also owns L’Oreal, Gerber, Diesel and even pet food makers Purina and Friskies.
Serving two billion people around the world is renowned soap-maker Unilever, which can attribute the majority of its success to its ownership of Q-tips and Skippy peanut butter.

For the complete report click here: The Illusion Of Choice: These 10 Companies Are Responsible For Virtually Everything Around You

April 7, 2014

European Council - Successful EU-Africa Summit

The 4th EU-Africa Summit, April 2 - 3, 2014 brought together more than 60 EU and African leaders, and a total of 90 delegations, to discuss the future of EU-Africa relations and reinforce links between the two continents. In the summit declaration, leaders highlighted the close nature of EU-Africa relations and the shared values of democracy, respect for human rights, the rule of law and good governance as well as the right to development.

Leaders recognised the importance of peace and security as essential prerequisites for development and prosperity. In particular, they confirmed their commitment to enhancing political dialogue on international criminal justice and universal jurisdiction. Leaders also gave their support to the African aspiration and commitment to ensuring peace and stability in Africa and agreed to support African capabilities in this area through any available means, with a particular focus on capacity-building. Both continents agreed to strengthen common effort to fight international terrorism and to combat the spread.

Leaders pledged to pursue policies to create jobs and stimulate long-term growth on both continents. In particular the two continents agreed to cooperate more closely in the field of maritime policy. The EU also underlined its commitment to continuing to support African countries in the preparation of climate-resilient and low-emission development strategies. Leaders on both sides highlighted the importance of ensuring prudent and transparent management of respective natural resources, and responsible mineral sourcing.

The summit declaration also underlines the importance of encouraging greater investment and economic development within and between countries in both continents, alongside developing transport, access to drinking water and to sustainable and affordable energy.  successful

Read more: European Council - EU-Africa summit 2014

August 9, 2013

The Netherlands: Are we lazy or clever? - work output lowest in the industrialized world.

Overall, the entire workforce in the Netherlands averages around 29 hours of work a week -- the lowest of any industrialized nation, according to the OECD.  However they earn some of the highest average annual wages: euro 35.000 ($47,000)

The four-day workweek is nearly standard in the Netherlands, especially among working moms.
About 86% of employed mothers worked 34 hours or less each week last year, according to Dutch government statistics. Among fathers, about 12% also worked a shortened workweek.

Dutch laws promote a work-life balance and protect part-time workers. All workers there are entitled to fully paid vacation days, maternity and paternity leave. A law passed in 2000 also gives workers the right to reduce their hours to a part-time schedule, while keeping their job, hourly pay, health care and pro-rated benefits.

Read more: World's shortest work weeks - Netherlands (1) - CNNMoney