Baltic citizens most pessimistic about jobs crisis

To measure the impact of the economic crisis on Europeans’ jobs and employment prospects, the European Commission's Directorate-General for Employment, Social Affairs and Equal Opportunities commissioned a Eurobarometer study in June 2009.

This summary report considers the extent to which there have been job losses now and over time, either for people personally, their immediate family or colleagues. It then determines that the level of concern regarding future job losses is at its highest in this current wave, most probably due to Europeans feeling that the worst of the
economic crisis is yet to come. The report then turns to European citizens’ own vision for the future – their personal confidence that they will keep or find a job, the type of ‘assets’ that are important in finding a job, and the extent to which they are geographically mobile with regard to employment.

Lastly, this report considers the extent of awareness of the European Social Fund (ESF), whether the current 10% budget allocation is perceived to be sufficient, and
the overall impact of the EU on employment and social affairs.

European Commission: DG Communication: Eurobarometer: Special Eurobarometer, No.316, European Employment and Social Policy http://ec.europa.eu/public_opinion/archives/ebs/ebs_316_sum_en.pdf

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