Flexicurity: Riding Into the Future

One of the most urgent problems confronting European governments today is high unemployment. At the same time, global companies are finding it harder to find experienced and qualified professionals who can help them compete in a global business environment. The creative and collaborative approach to employment known as flexicurity seemingly offers a solution to both these problems by emphasizing flexible work arrangements and comprehensive lifelong learning schemes, helping firms and employees to thrive in volatile business contexts. In this article, the author highlights two areas of flexicurity that stand out for reaping immediate benefits and unleashing powerful societal effects: more diverse contractual arrangements, and lifelong learning for all categories of workers. But flexicurity involves more than formulating policies; it?s an entirely new conception of work. It needs to be understood as a dynamic phenomenon and monitored through a careful examination of the different conditions of each unique labor market and culture.