EZA MAGAZINE
EZA PODCAST

Balance between Flexibility and Security

During the last years, what direction has the supposed symbiosis of two different systems (flexibility and security in the workplace) taken? Can we really talk about an "equilibrium", as stated in the title of this pamphlet?

This indicates that a quality social dialogue can also provide good results.

In addition, we assign to the principle the necessary flexibility generated by the competitiveness and security of jobs as a requirement for business and we are obliged to look at this assignment in a different way. Both things are valid for both parties. This involves the survival of the country, both for the entrepreneur and for the worker. The security of existence, security in the workplace and social security create a symbiosis within the symbiosis of flexicurity. Both parties benefit from the required flexibility, but the worker alone benefits to a certain extent.

This “certain extent” is the key point of our project. This clearly shows the barriers and implies, in the first instance, avoiding precarious working, one of the greatest challenges facing social collaborators and governments.

This pamphlet is an interesting presentation of the results of the series of coordinated seminars that were held in 2009 within the context of the EZA training programme and which were attended by around 580 people from 22 countries. These seminars clearly showed the various conflicts of interest and provided a lot of material for discussion that was at times very profound. Content was linked to the EZA investigation work for 2008 relating to “Flexicurity, more security by means of greater flexibility in the employment sector”.

The pamphlet has been published in German, English, French, Spanish and Romanian and can be requested from EZA.