"For a short time during and after COVID, Europe's workers enjoyed rare leverage over their employers. Generous furlough and reduced working-hour programs, like Germany's Kurzarbeit, helped companies offset their staffing costs. Offices became optional thanks to remote work. Coming out of the pandemic, headlines about the so-called Great Resignation reflected a global labor shortage that sharply increased demand for talent. Workplace burnout gave rise to another new phrase, Quiet Quitting, as employees rejected overdelivering in pursuit of a healthier work-life balance."
"Despite remaining resilient, the 21-member eurozone's labor market is projected to grow more slowly this year at 0.6% compared to 0.7% in 2025, according to the European Central Bank (ECB). Although that drop seems tiny, each 0.1 percentage point difference amounts to around 163,000 fewer new jobs being created. Just three years ago, the eurozone created some 2.76 million new jobs while growing at a robust rate of 1.7%."
During and after COVID, workers enjoyed rare leverage as furlough schemes and reduced-hour programs like Germany's Kurzarbeit helped firms offset staffing costs and remote work made offices optional. A global labor shortage and burnout trends such as Quiet Quitting increased demand for talent, with McKinsey finding a third of European workers considering quitting within months. That momentum has reversed as industrial strain, slowing wage growth and AI threats contribute to layoffs. Labor markets have cooled, with fewer vacancies making employees more cautious about switching. The eurozone's labor market growth is projected to slow to 0.6%, reducing job creation versus recent years; migration continues to shape supply.
Read at www.dw.com
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