WIFO White Paper: Labour Market Flexibility and Social Security

The new world of work demands a higher degree of labour market flexibility. On the demand side, the intensity of competition for labour is increasing as a result of globalisation and the fast rate of technological progress; on the supply side, changes occur due to the process of individualisation of private households and the emergence of new and more flexible life patterns. The challenge of adjusting the institutions of the labour market and the system of social security to this growing demand for flexibility in an effort to reconcile the principles of efficiency and solidarity in times of rapid change is at the core of the European employment strategy. Based on this notion of "flexicurity", efforts are being made to combine labour market flexibility with social security and to establish social policy as "productive factor".