F U T U R I S M E II New Economy: Adaptability and Employability Final Conference 2 nd and 3 rd October 2003 Brussels

F U T U R I S M E II New Economy: Adaptability and Employability Summary and Conclusions Gerhard Huemer Final Conference Brussels,

F U T U R I S M E I main results: n SMEs will suffer from tighter labour markets n SME needs for flexibility and employees expectations for security have to be balanced in order to  keep competitiveness  stay an attractive employer n compared to big business - SME cannot solve the “flexi-curity” problem on company level n SMEs need solutions on branch, sector or regional level n Social Dialogue is one of the possible approaches - F U T U R I S M E II

Social Dialogue for SMEs n Recognition of SME specificities in collective agreements - dominance of big companies in sector agreements - separate negotiations for SMEs - competencies and recognition by trade unions n Regional differentiation - differences in productivity - regional agreements or regional clauses F U T U R I S M E II

Social Dialogue - New Content 1 n flexibility of working time - market necessities and family life - annualised labour contracts - a-typical contracts n wage flexibility - fixed wages for fixed period - independent of economic development and business situation - profit related elements - individual performance F U T U R I S M E II

Social Dialogue - New Content 2 n contributions to improve employability - training as an integrated element of collective agreements - co-operation at sector or regional level - training leave? training funds? n labour market participation - labour shortage will hurt SMEs first - attractive working conditions for groups with low participation (women, elderly and young people) F U T U R I S M E II

Employment and Wage Policy n reduction of asymmetries in the tax system - SME: no privileges and high labour tax - common tax base - different tax rates - EU tax reform - the interest of SMEs, governments and employees n challenge of demographic development - less employees - lower productivity gains - training and work organisation (women, elderly) F U T U R I S M E II

Labour Market and Social Policy n integration of discriminated groups - reconciliation of family and work life - integration of immigrant workers - training and flexible work /retirement schemes for older workers n adapting to the knowledge society - focus on result not on working time - self-employment: advantages and disadvantages - economically dependent workers: inadequate regulations; social protection system F U T U R I S M E II

Continuous Training n winning new target groups - image of certain occupations and entrepreneurship - more efforts regarding discriminated groups n dealing with SME problems - protection of investment - visibility of competencies (informal training) - financing of SME training - training offers for SMEs - tailor-made; modules; informal, e-learning F U T U R I S M E II

Institutional Aspects of Social Dialogue for SMEs 1 n how SME employers are organised depends on legal, political and cultural factors - exchange of good practices - creation of a network - new study n independent SME employer associations support the recognition of SME interests in collective bargaining - trade unions know less about SMEs - Futurisme projects improve the understanding F U T U R I S M E II

Institutional Aspects of Social Dialogue for SMEs 2 n difficulties to involve regional and branch organisations in a European discussion n not fully recognised social partner organisations and social dialogue - European agreements, signed by UEAPME - new content of social bargaining (training, regional development) n involvement of liberal professions into the European Social Dialogue - agreement between CEPLIS and UEAPME F U T U R I S M E II