Best country in Europe to get a job

And if you are thinking of quitting your job, this research from Glassdoor reviews some of the economic factors which are important in providing good job prospects.  And the video is my interview talking about the research on BBC World (in Europe).

Basically, the research supports Glassdoor's entry into the Netherlands, France, Belgium, Germany, Austria and Switzerland as well as the UK and Ireland with more national url sites so if you're in Switzerland you can go to de.glassdoor.ch or fr.glassdoor.ch, depending on the language you want to use.  But their experience is that even within Europe there are vast differences between countries with high growth and employment (Germany, Austria, Switzerland) and those with double digit unemployment and slow economic growth (Greece, Spain and Portugal).

Their review of the various factors relating to and the quantity and quality of employment, centred around unemployment, temporary work and involuntary part-time work suggests that Estonia, Norway, the UK and Austria are the best countries to apply for a new job.

The main finding is that regulated markets do seem to suffer more temporary and part-time work as well as unemployment and an ongoing employment gap (between levels of employment before the global financial crisis and today).  I'd also suggests that Spain's growth today is almost certainly linked to the recent easing of their previously right regulations.

However, I also agree with the report's comments on side effects eg the potential to form a dual labour market with the rise of 'mini jobs' (part-time, temporary contracts).  Or in the UK where we don't have high rates of these, the prevalence of zero hour contracts (see my previous BBC interview on these), self employment and increasingly, completely unregulated roles in the sharing economy.

The key point for me, once again, is designing these types of roles for an organisation's employees and to suit their needs for flexibility, and not just business needs.  And that applies for individuals, businesses, countries and the whole of Europe too.

It's great to have a role which gets me thinking about macro level issues as well as just those operating within companies, and gets me thinking back to some of the economic development projects we did when I worked at one of the government's Training & Enterprise Councils 20+ years ago.

You may also be interested in these posts on a similar agenda.  Firstly, for Glassdoor:

• Zero hour contracts (interview on BBC Breakfast)

• The gender pay gap (interview on BBC Radio 4 Today programme) and Gender pay gap in bonuses (interview on BBC News Channel)

• Pay transparency - on Glassdoor and in your organisation too

• Why men won't ask for Shared Parental Leave (interview on Sky Breakfast)

And for / related to the UK's Commission for Employment and Skills:

• Employment, skills and energy

• Preventative skills planning

• Investors in People VI: Outperformance

For further details or support, get in touch:

• Consulting   Research  Speaking  Training  Writing 
• Strategy  - Talent - Engagement  - Change and OD   
• Contact me to create more value for your business  
• jon [dot] ingham [at] strategic [dash] hcm [dot] com