The European Commission must act now – not in months – to save people's livelihoods and create new quality jobs after finally recognising the scale of the employment crisis facing Europe.

That’s the message from the European Trade Union Confederation (ETUC) following the publication of the European Semester Spring Package, which confirmed that hundreds of thousands of jobs are at risk in some industries, while others are facing a labour shortage.
Recognition of the growing crisis is not enough: workers need job protection, investment, and new rights. 

The ETUC says the scale of the crisis requires urgent measures, including:

  • A SURE 2.0 scheme to save jobs and production in the threatened sectors;
  •  A right to training during working hours and just transition measures for all sectors through the Quality Jobs Act;
  • Increased public investment needed to deal with the high energy costs hitting companies;
  • The creation of stronger internal demand through collective bargaining and higher wages;
  • A genuine ‘Made in Europe’ approach as part of the Industrial Accelerator Act.

The Commission has previously estimated that Europe has been losing 27,000 manufacturing jobs every month for the last two years – that comes on top of almost a million industrial jobs lost between 2019 and 2023.

Without action, artificial intelligence could alone also cause an unemployment shock in Europe larger than that which followed the financial crisis.

At the same time, other sectors are being held back by a skills shortage caused by a failure to invest in training, with fewer than half of working-age people participating in training.

ETUC General Secretary Esther Lynch said:

“The European Commission’s recognition of the scale of the jobs crisis facing Europe is a case of better late than never. Jobs are not just at risk – they are already being lost in large numbers and the Commission's numbers underestimate the consequences as every job lost creates further job losses.
This is no time for half measures: we need decisive action to save jobs and industries. The Commission showed this was possible during the pandemic. It is a matter of political will. The Commission’s analysis also shows that you cannot build more competitive companies based on bad jobs. Low pay and a lack of training have caused labour and skills shortages. The whole Commission must give its full backing to Executive Vice-President Mînzatu in delivering a Quality Jobs Act that deals with the fundamental problems in our labour market.”

ETUC Confederal Secretary Ludovic Voet said:

“The jobs crisis shows exactly why the fiscal austerity which underpins the European Semester is unsustainable and counterproductive. Chronically low investment has left our companies badly exposed to energy shocks and falling behind in productivity, putting jobs at risk. Facing increased global instability, it’s clear we need to stimulate the European economy through increased investment and stronger internal demand. But the limited fiscal space given to countries today will not allow them to take the scale of action required.Fundamentally, we need to stop lurching from crisis to crisis and instead anticipate and manage change in the economy. That is why a just transition directive must be part of the Quality Jobs Act.”