Enrique Fernández-Macías

Enrique Fernández-Macías is a Researcher working in the Joint Research Centre (JRC) of the European Commission in Sevilla. He holds a PhD in Economic Sociology by the University of Salamanca, and his main research interests are job quality, technology & occupational change and the division of labour. Before joining the JRC, he worked in the University of Salamanca and Eurofound (Dublin).

Enrique Fernández-Macías

Why Haven’t Full-Time Workers Cut Hours Since the 1980s?

Enrique Fernández-Macías 22nd November 2024

Full-time workers in Europe still clock the same hours as in the 1980s.

Robots, jobs and the future of work

Enrique Fernández-Macías 7th June 2021

Apocalyptic visions of robots stealing workers’ jobs are not only misguided but have diverted attention from more significant trends.

Job Polarisation In Europe: Are Mid-Skilled Jobs Disappearing?

Enrique Fernández-Macías 30th July 2015

If we look at what kinds of jobs have expanded most in recent years, we can split European countries into two: those that experienced job polarization (with ‘good’ and ‘bad’ jobs growing, and the middling type shrinking relatively) and those that experienced upgrading (with a relative expansion of ‘good’ jobs). These patterns can be traced […]

An EU Perspective On Wage Inequality

Enrique Fernández-Macías 19th May 2015

In the years before the financial crisis of 2008, there was a significant reduction in overall EU wage inequality, driven by economic convergence between rich and poor Member States. The 2008 crisis reversed the trend, expanding pre-existing wage differentials between countries. The impact of the crisis on wage inequalities within countries has also varied greatly […]

This new book published by Oxford University Press presents the findings of the multiannual ERC research project “Researching Precariousness Across the Paid/Unpaid Work Continuum”,
led by Valeria Pulignano (KU Leuven), which are very important for the prospects of a more equal Europe.

Unpaid labour is no longer limited to the home or volunteer work. It infiltrates paid jobs, eroding rights and deepening inequality. From freelancers’ extra hours to care workers’ unpaid duties, it sustains precarity and fuels inequity. This book exposes the hidden forces behind unpaid labour and calls for systemic change to confront this pressing issue.

DOWNLOAD HERE FOR FREE

How can Europe adapt to an ageing workforce?

How can Europe adapt to an ageing workforce? What impediments do older workers face at the workplace? How are changing technologies and job quality influencing the retention of older workers on the labour market?

This episode of the Eurofound Talks podcast series sets out to answer these questions in the context of changing demographics in Europe and the need to make work more sustainable.

Listen to the episode for free. Also make sure to subscribe to Eurofound Talks so you don’t miss an episode!

The Spring issue of The Progressive Post is out!

Since President Trump’s inauguration, the US – hitherto the cornerstone of Western security – is destabilising the world order it helped to build. The US security umbrella is apparently closing on Europe, Ukraine finds itself less and less protected, and the traditional defender of free trade is now shutting the door to foreign goods, sending stock markets on a rollercoaster. How will the European Union respond to this dramatic landscape change? .

Among this issue’s highlights, we discuss European defence strategies, assess how the US president's recent announcements will impact international trade and explore the risks  and opportunities that algorithms pose for workers.

READ THE MAGAZINE

WSI European Collective Bargaining Report 2023/2024

Real wages in the European Union continued their decline in 2023—despite an acceleration in nominal wage growth and falling inflation rates. For the current year, there are only tentative signs of a slow recovery in the purchasing power of wages.

A resumption of real wage growth would stabilize the functional distribution of income and strengthen domestic demand. However, even under this benign scenario, the crisis is far from over from workers' point of view. They have borne the brunt of real income losses associated with the energy-price shock resulting from the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

The lingering reduction in real wage levels means that wage policy still needs to catch up to contribute to a fairer distribution of the burden between labor and capital.