Working Conditions and Job Quality: Comparing Sectors in Europe

Abstract

This report and the accompanying 33 sectoral information sheets aim to capture the diversity prevalent across sectors in Europe in terms of working conditions and job quality. The information sheets indicate how each sector compares to the European average for all sectors, as well as highlighting differences and similarities among different groups of workers. The report provides a comparative overview of sectors and gives background information that enables the results presented in the individual information sheets to be interpreted. The sectoral analysis builds on the overview report and secondary analyses of the fifth European Working Conditions Survey (EWCS). The research highlights trends across sectors in terms of working time and work–life balance, work organisation, skills and training, employee representation and the psychosocial and physical environment. It identifies sectors that score particularly well or particularly poorly regarding four indicators of job quality: earnings, prospects, intrinsic job quality and working time quality. Finally, some light is shed on differences between sectors in terms of the health and well-being of workers and the perceived sustainability of work.