Flexibility and security: an asymmetrical relationship?
Table 9: Confi dence about finding a job in the next 6 months, in the event of being laid-off
(10= very likely, 1 not at all likely)
|
EU-25 average |
Greece |
Spain |
Netherlands |
Denmark |
|
^^HI^^H |
^^■I^^H |
^^■I^^H |
^^HI^^B |
^^■i^^h |
Source: Special EUROBAROMETER 261, ‘European Employment and Social Policy”, 2006
Table 10: Confi dence in having a job in 2 year’s time (%)
|
Greece |
Spain |
Netherlands |
Denmark |
Source: Flash Eurobarometer no. 227, 2008 & Special Eurobarometer 26, 2006
Low expectations go hand-in-hand with a defensive attitude towards labour market and social
reforms that could put into jeopardy vested interests and trigger off new social risks. The concept
of “flexicurity” in particular seems to remain still blurred in some national contexts: for example, al-
though a large majority of respondents in Greece agree that life time jobs with the same employer are
a thing of a past, only 1 in 2 are ready to accept that job mobility is a useful asset nowadays in view of
finding a job, compared to more than 9 out of 10 in Denmark (Special Eurobarometer 261, 2006).
Dissatisfaction with the economic situation
Dissatisfaction with the overall and the personal economic situation also undermines the willing-
ness of individuals to take risks in their professional career and accept drastic changes. Here again, we
notice striking differences in the attitudes of citizens from the 4 different countries. 75 Nine out of ten
respondents in Greece and 8 out of 10 in Spain express dissatisfaction about the economic situation
in their country, as opposed to only 28% in Denmark and 32% in the Netherlands (EU-27: 69%).
Dissatisfaction rates record a significant increase when compared to the Eurobarometer survey car-
ried out in autumn 2007 (GR:+14, SP:+34, DK:+26, NL:+22, EU-27:+20). The same deep concern
applies to the employment situation, as 9 out of 10 Greek and Spanish respondents find it to be in a
bad state, as opposed to less than 1 in 10 in Denmark and the Netherlands (GR: 92%, SP:89%, NL:
9%, DK:8%, EU-27: 69%). The Greek negative rate is the 3rd highest in the entire survey, behind
Portugal (95%) and Hungary (93%). Dissatisfaction with the personal job situation and the financial
situation of the household is also much more widespread in Spain and Greece than in Denmark and
the Netherlands (“my personal job situation is bad or rather bad”: GR: 40%, SP: 39%, DK: 11%, NL:
75 See EUROBAROMETER 70, Autumn 2008, http://ec.europa.eu/public_opinion/index_en.htm
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