A Quickly Transforming Labour Market

The Covid-19 pandemic has made it clear that the labour market situation can change extremely rapidly when an unexpected exogenous shock hits the economy. It has become more important than ever for EU Member States to improve the functioning of their labour markets.

Economies in some member states have been able to adjust to earlier structural shifts and there are many jobs today that did not exist some 30 years ago. Nevertheless, the quick transformation raises many questions in connection with digitalisation. This paper presents where digitalisation stands today. Author Eva Uddén Sonnegård calls upon Member States to increase possibilities for training and retraining throughout peoples’ working lives to smooth the transformation into a digital world of work.

About the author

Eva Uddén Sonnegård holds a Doctor’s degree in Economics, is a researcher at the institute Ratio as well as senior advisor of Fores council on Security. Between the years 2006-2010 she was State Secretary at the Swedish Ministry of Employment and was a key figure in forming a new labour market policy program with the previous Swedish Minister of Finance Anders Borg.

About the editor

Tove Hovemyr is Domestic Policy Expert at Fores and holds a Master of Laws (LL.M.) from Uppsala University. She has formerly been a political staff member of Sweden’s previous Minister of Integration Erik Ullenhag.

About ELF

The European Liberal Forum (ELF) is the official political foundation of the European Liberal Party, the ALDE Party. Together with 46 member organisations, we work all over Europe to bring new ideas into the political debate, to provide a platform for discussion, and to empower citizens to make their voices heard.

ELF was founded in 2007 to strengthen the liberal and democrat movement in Europe. Our work is guided by liberal ideals and a belief in the principle of freedom. We stand for a future-oriented Europe that offers opportunities for every citizen. ELF is engaged on all political levels, from the local to the European.

We bring together a diverse network of national foundations, think tanks and other experts. At the same time, we are also close to, but independent from, the ALDE Party and other Liberal actors in Europe. In this role, our forum serves as a space for an open and informed exchange of views between a wide range of different actors.

About Tankesmedjan Fores

Fores – Forum for reforms, entrepreneurship and sustainability – is the green and liberal think tank based in Sweden. With one foot in academia and the other in the public debate, Fores works every day towards solutions and policies that strengthen the liberal democracy. Through our three work groups we seek scientifically based, forward-looking policies on Growth, Security and Trust.