The year 2014 marks the second year of implementation of Eurofound’s four-year work programme 2013–2016, From crisis to recovery: Better informed policies for a competitive and fair Europe. The multiannual strategy laid down in the four-year programme provides Eurofound with a clear framework for the development of its annual programmes. The programme describes the policy context in which the Agency operates and defines the mission of the organisation and its core areas of expertise. It identifies four policy priority areas where Eurofound will provide high-quality, timely and policy-relevant knowledge as input to better informed policies. This is the Agency’s strategic objective for the 2013–2016 period. The activities proposed in the annual programme for 2014 are designed to contribute to achieving this strategic objective. They are in line with the commitments made in the four-year programme while also taking into account the organisational and policy context specific to 2014. Many activities launched in 2013 were designed to be continued or complemented by follow-up projects during 2014. In addition, a number of new projects will commence. The 2014 work programme also takes into account the sequence and work processes of Eurofound’s flagship activities, the European surveys and the observatories, which require the allocation of resources in each annual programme.