Marianne Thyssen – Photo EC
(BRUSSELS) – An EU report on the performance of the European Globalisation Adjustment Fund, published Wednesday, affirms its role in providing support to people losing their jobs as a result of globalisation.
Close to 19,500 workers were helped by the fund to adjust to changing trade patterns and consequences of the economic and financial crisis over the period 2015 and 2016, according to the report.
The EGF provides support to people losing their jobs as a result of major structural changes in world trade patterns due to globalisation, e.g. when a large company shuts down or production is moved outside the EU, or as a result of the global economic and financial crisis.
“Today’s results demonstrate the added value of the Globalisation Adjustment Fund in helping redundant workers who have difficulties to find a new job,” said Employment Commissioner Marianne Thyssen: “The assistance worth EUR 70 million of the Fund has paid off: in 2015 and 2016, 9,072 assisted workers were re-employed, despite the challenging labour market situation these people faced. This year’s tenth anniversary of the Globalisation Adjustment Fund marks it as a proof of European solidarity to workers falling victim to mass lay-offs caused by globalisation or the crisis.”
Close to half of the 9,072 workers who participated in the Globalisation Adjustment Fund measures had found new jobs or were self-employed after one year, at the end of the implementation period of the measures, says the report. An additional 645 people were at that time in education or training to increase their future employability. Member States also reported that the personal situation, employability and self-confidence of the workers concerned had visibly improved thanks to the Globalisation Adjustment Fund assistance and services. This was even the case for those who had not found new work immediately after the end of the measures.
These positive results are encouraging, says the Commission, especially given the difficult context in which they have been achieved. The labour market situation in some Member States was particularly challenging in the period covered by the report. Mass lay-offs occurred in territories that were already suffering from above average unemployment rates. Many supported workers were low-skilled or had other disadvantages as job-seekers. This proves once again that EU funding, such as the Globalisation Adjustment Fund, can make a difference, especially for the most vulnerable people in our societies.
More open trade with the rest of the world leads to overall benefits for growth and employment, says the Commission, but it can also cost jobs, particularly in vulnerable sectors and among lower-skilled workers. This is why the Commission set up a fund to help those adjusting to the consequences of changing trade patterns or those who have been made redundant because of the economic crisis.
The European Globalisation Adjustment Fund provides funding for concrete measures to help dismissed workers improve their employability and find new job opportunities. It finances measures tailored to the specific circumstances of each worker concerned, such as:
- intensive, personalised job-search assistance
- various types of vocational training, up-skilling and retraining measures
- temporary incentives and allowances for the duration of the active measures
- Support for business start-up
- mentoring throughout the process
Founded in 2007, this year marks the 10th anniversary of the European Globalisation Adjustment Fund. Since then, the Fund has received 147 applications. Some 600 million has been requested to help about 137,600 workers and 2,944 NEETs.
In 2015 and 2016, the Globalisation Adjustment Fund provided assistance to 19,500 redundant workers and 1,251 young people not in employment, education or training (NEETs). The EU contribution amounted to more than 70 million and was matched by another 48 million from national resources. 11 Member States requested assistance from the Fund: Belgium, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Poland, Spain and Sweden.
