The European Union and Member States must act to upgrade workers' skills and adapt the administrative environment and workers' contracts to new needs being generated by the digital boom, according to a report submitted to the European Commission by the High-Level Expert Group on the Impact of the Digital Transformation on EU Labour Markets.
The report, which is about 50 pages long, outlines a series of proposals in response to the systemic transformation of labour markets, in particular through the emergence of “digital platforms”. There are numerous proposals.
In the area of skills, for example, the authors of the report suggest the creation of digital skills personal learning accounts that would support workers throughout their careers. This account would contain a “digital passport” that brings together all of the digital skills acquired in the past, in addition to allowing access to training.
With regard to new labour relations linked to the rise of so-called atypical jobs, the authors suggest that administrative treatment should be “equalised” between all workers (conventional and non-conventional) in order to establish homogenised access to public services, credits, etc. In particular, they emphasise the need to revitalise social dialogue, particularly at the level of digital platforms.
Finally, the report details a series of measures on the importance of writing a “New social contract” in order to ensure social coverage, irrespective of the status of workers. But how? Through transferable benefits attached to the worker, rather than to employment or through the introduction of “underemployment insurance”, designed to smooth out income fluctuations in the labour economy.
These are proposals that will have a certain resonance within the European Commission. Under the aegis of the Commissioner for Employment and Social Affairs, Marianne Thyssen, and in conjunction with the European pillar of social rights (see EUROPE 11906/2), a whole series of legislative acts (on work-life balance, predictable and transparent working conditions), and also recommendations, notably extending social security access to self-employed workers on digital platforms, particularly those in precarious situations (see EUROPE 12154/15), have been drafted.
To view the report, please visit: https://bit.ly/2Kldc2T. (Original version in French by Pascal Hansens)