Seán Ó Riain

Seán Ó Riain is professor of sociology at the National University of Ireland Maynooth. He studies workplace regimes, national development strategies and the politics of inequality. He is co-editor of The Changing Worlds and Workplaces of Capitalism.

Seán Ó Riain

Lean work and a narrowing path to ‘good jobs’

Seán Ó Riain 6th September 2023

Work regimes are increasingly demanding. But ‘leaner’ does not mean ‘fitter’ for workers.

Why Isn’t Europe More Keynesian?

Seán Ó Riain 14th July 2014

It is little surprise that Europe continues to struggle to generate the economic and employment growth that would make the debt crisis more manageable. The EU policy approach to escaping the Great Recession has drawn almost exclusively on the most contractionary elements of each of the models of capitalism within the region. Mario Draghi’s talk […]

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.

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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.

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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.

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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!

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Lean work and a narrowing path to ‘good jobs’

Why Isn’t Europe More Keynesian?

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