Oliver Denk, OECD: Our policy priority is to improve the quality of employment

CESI Secretary General Klaus Heeger talked with Oliver Denk, senior economist in the Jobs and Income Division of the OECD, about the impact of the pandemic on our labour markets and the expectations towards CESI’s ‘Summer Days 2022’.

Oliver Denk said: ‘COVID-19 has been a massive shock to Europe’s labour markets. Decisive policy action and the move to the digital workplace limited the decline in employment. But the differences across sectors and groups of workers have been huge. People in precarious jobs and young workers have been particularly affected. At the same time, we see shortages of workers in healthcare and other frontline occupations. And all these changes happen in the face of megatrends such as digitalisation and AI, the ageing of the population, and climate change.’

He added: ‘Our policy priority now should be to improve the quality of employment. The vaccination of the working population will create safer workplaces. Active labour market policies will help workers to re- and upskill. And we must find ways to finally lift productivity and pay in the post-COVID world of work. To achieve all this, the role of trade unions will be very important.’

#CESItalks is a series of conversations with MEPs and EP officials/experts on social and employment policies.

It is part of a project co-financed by the European Parliament: “WeEP – The EP and workers: a well-designed post-pandemic recovery plan.” The project wants to raise citizens’ and workers’ awareness of the role of the European Union – and of the European Parliament in particular – in the design of social standards.

Against the background of the post-Covid recovery and the heralded digital and green transitions, social and employment policies are more than ever of major relevance.

More info: https://www.cesi.org/posts/weep-the-ep-and-workers-a-well-designed-post-covid19-recovery-plan/

#CESItalks