Given recent workforce fluctuations at tech companies, it would be easy to imagine that the overall employment picture is one of doom and gloom. However, according to Eurostat, in the EU, the employment rate of those aged 20-64 was 74.8% in the second quarter of 2022, which actually increased by 0.3% compared with the first quarter of the year.
So while we have heard a lot of rumblings about layoffs at the special platform giants Meta and Twitter, for example, the other thing to keep in mind is that European and UK labour laws require collective consultation in the case of any layoff exceeding 20 workers. This helps to protect workers’ rights, and gives breathing space to staff so that they can find other employment.
