In recent days, the European Union and its member states have continued to take relevant measures to help stabilize the job market as the top priority to promote economic recovery. According to the analysis, the challenges facing the EU's job market are caused by both the impact of the epidemic and the long-term structural problems. The eu's response strategies should attach equal importance to both short-term and long-term measures, and carry out necessary reforms to the labor and welfare systems.


The European Commission recently announced that it will provide 14 billion euros of "emergency unemployment risk reduction assistance" to nine member countries, including Croatia, Italy, Cyprus, Greece and Spain, to help cope with the rising unemployment rate caused by the new outbreak.


As the epidemic continues to spread in many European countries and the job market in relevant countries is still facing severe tests, experts suggest that more efforts be made to support employment.


Focus on smes and short-time working


The eu funds are part of a €100bn "emergency risk reduction assistance" programme. The project aims to minimize unemployment by supporting short-time working by providing emergency loans to member states. As of October, the EU had approved 87.9 billion euros in emergency loans to its 17 member states, including 27.4 billion euros for Italy, 21.3 billion euros for Spain and 7.8 billion euros for Belgium, the countries hardest hit by the outbreak.


Since the outbreak began, the EU has adopted a comprehensive approach, supporting economic development through large-scale "recovery funds" and asset purchases, and protecting jobs through specialized projects. Member states have also continued to adopt financial subsidies and other measures, focusing on the short-time working system, to introduce strong measures to protect employment.


Small and medium-sized enterprises (smes) play an important role in creating jobs, accounting for about 70 percent of the total employment in the EU. To support the development of SMALL and medium-sized enterprises in the EU, the European Investment Bank provides 200 billion euros of funds specifically for small and medium-sized enterprises. More than half of the European Investment Bank's pan-European guarantee fund is devoted to small and medium-sized enterprises. The EU wants financial support to help member states extend short-time working until the end of the year. Short-time working is a relief measure to protect jobs. Companies can reduce working hours, and the government provides subsidies to workers affected by the epidemic so that their incomes do not fall sharply.


The move comes after the Italian government signed into law a third fiscal bailout that allocated €12bn to protect jobs, reduce costs for companies and provide a four-month stoppage subsidy. Many sme employees and informal workers receive a subsidy of no less than €1,000, depending on their family's financial situation; The Spanish government has agreed with trade unions on a temporary employee change plan that will allow some companies to impose furloughs or reduced working hours without the need to sack workers. The government is offering subsidies totalling 10 billion euros so far. More than 3.3 million employees applied for the program at its peak; The German government announced up to 50 billion euros in aid to micro, small and medium enterprises, self-employed people and freelancers, and increased support for short-time working. France focuses on supporting short-time working, with subsidies for companies and employees. France has pledged to create 100,000 jobs in the public service sector to tackle the problem of graduates finding jobs.


The job market continues to be under pressure


Oscar Guinea, a senior economist at the European Center for International Political And Economic Studies, said the EU economy and job market remain under enormous pressure. The EU employment assistance program has played a key role in alleviating the impact of the epidemic and protecting jobs, especially for some EU member states with heavy debt and financial burden.


Some 15.6 million people in the European Union are now unemployed, 1.7 million more than in March, according to a recent report by the European Trade Union Confederation. European Central Bank President Christine Lagarde believes that the epidemic is repeatedly affecting economic activity, service sector activity in Europe has slowed significantly, the uncertainty of the economic outlook has curbed investment and economic vitality, and the pressure on the job market has increased.


Since September, the epidemic has rebounded in Europe, with a record number of new cases diagnosed in a single day. Germany, France, Italy, Spain and other countries have generally adopted stricter prevention and control measures to restrict non-essential activities in restaurants, hotels and entertainment venues. European Commission President Von der Leyen said yesterday that lessons should be learned from the past and that social restrictions should not be withdrawn quickly. According to The European media, the recovery of the European job market depends on the overall effect of the epidemic prevention and control in the future, and the EU economy may suffer a long-term impact.

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At the EU level, the European Commission has established the European Employment Service coordination mechanism with the UK and Switzerland to share employment information and facilitate cross-border employment. The EU and its member States have also established a variety of education and training programmes covering all ages and different employment areas. In addition, eu member states generally encourage enterprises to provide suitable jobs through fiscal subsidies, tax cuts and other measures.


Protecting jobs is a long-term challenge


According to the Bruegel Institute, a European think tank, many breakthroughs have been made in job-protection measures at the European Union level, and the overall response of the EU and its member states has helped prevent mass unemployment in Europe, although the scale of support funds is still limited.


Eu in July this year launched a "youth employment support plan", in the eu funds earmarked for youth employment training, especially in the field of digital and green, pay attention to the role of young people, encouraging them to employment in related fields, specific measures include: for young entrepreneurs to provide loans and other financial support, to hire young people enterprise subsidies, provide new skills training for young people, and so on. The EU also called for countries to provide at least 22 billion euros to support youth employment.


According to The Economist, the European Union has introduced massive bailouts and high subsidies to stimulate the economy and protect jobs, but they are also a huge burden on public finances. How to deal with the high deficit in the future, absorb the negative effects of the rescue measures, and maintain the sustainable development of employment will be the long-term challenges facing the EU.

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Oscar Guinea said that the eu's job market is facing both the impact of the epidemic and long-term structural problems, and its response strategy should focus on both short-term and long-term measures to protect jobs, restore the economy, create jobs, and carry out necessary reforms to the labor and welfare systems.


The INTERNATIONAL Monetary Fund said the outbreak had once again highlighted structural problems in the Labour market and exposed its vulnerability to crisis. Protecting and creating jobs is a long-term challenge. In the long run, the EU should push for further structural reforms in the Labour market, reduce temporary staff, continue to strengthen vocational training for workers and create more high-quality and stable jobs.