Study blames low wages for labor shortage in EU

Record shortage work in the European Union (EU) is due low wages and the uncertainty of working conditions more than the lack of workers’ qualifications, according to a study published this Thursday by the European Trade Union Institute.

The report points out that labor shortages have clearly increased more among jobs with relatively lower wages, and are higher in sectors and profiles that do not necessarily require higher qualifications. “Equipping more workers with the skills they need to work in the industries of the future is a key part of a socially just transition to a green economy,” but according to the published research, “those sectors where labor shortages grew more from 2019 to 2022 tended to offer generally worse working conditions.”

The results show the need to strengthen collective bargaining and improve wages and working conditions, as well as skills, if Europe is to end labor shortages, the company said in a statement. European Trade Union Confederation (ESC).

Representatives of the European headquarters additionally warned of the fact that in half of the EU member states, real wages (that is, adjusted for inflation) fell last year despite the growth of real profits.

For this reason, the ETUC asked the EU to make industry funding conditional on beneficiaries offering training and improving the wages and working conditions of their workforce through collective agreements. «Employers cannot find enough workers because they do not offer good enough wages and working conditions“, stated the general secretary of CES, Esther Lynch, who, paraphrasing US President Joe Biden, said: “The answer is simple: pay them more”.

Lynch believed that the EU “should follow the example of the United States and condition public financing of companies on the obligation to pay decent wages, offer fair conditions and improve the qualifications of workers, together with a clear obligation in terms of collective bargaining”. “Europe should stop trying to compete on the basis of low wages and conditions and should instead increase productivity by investing in high-skilled, high-tech and high-quality jobs,” he concluded.