Non-standard forms of employment: Recent trends and future prospects

This report examines developments in non-standard employment over the last decade. It looks at trends in the main categories of non-standard employment – temporary, temporary agency and part-time work and self-employment – based mainly on data from the European Union Labour Force Survey. It discusses some aspects of the labour market situation of workers in these categories including wages and the extent to which they would prefer a standard employment status.

The report includes a specific focus on work mediated by digital platforms, which is the most innovative of the new forms of employment that have emerged in the past decade. Digital platform work is thought to have considerable potential for growth but also to present challenges related to working conditions and social protection. Social protection issues surrounding other new forms of employment, as identified in earlier Eurofound research, are also highlighted.