Page 27 - Socially-responsible-restructuring-Effective-strategies-for-supporting-redundant-workers

Socially responsible restructuring
Effective strategies for supporting redundant workers

1. The review

This comparative review on ‘socially responsible restructuring: effective
strategies to support redundant workers’ was carried out shortly after Member
States entered what was to be the deepest recession for over half a century. It
placed special emphasis on employers’ use of career guidance and continuing
training to help the reintegration of workers into employment. This review is
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produced as most European economies are starting to emerge from recession ( )
although the European labour market is expected to be in depression for some
time, and recent EU-wide projections (European Commission, 2009a) have
suggested a continuing fall in employment levels of around 1.2% despite cautious
growth (GDP) recovery. An early rise in labour market demand for more
vulnerable groups of workers who have been especially disadvantaged by the
economic downturn cannot be anticipated.
This report is timely in seeking to look at restructuring processes in enterprises
that attempt to minimise the negative effects on employees at risk of redundancy
and local communities. More specifically, the report explores the contributions of
career guidance and continuing training to socially responsible restructuring.
From established professional practice, career guidance covers career
information, advice or guidance, individually or in combination with other forms of
support, such as training, including both internally sourced services within
enterprises as well as negotiated arrangements involving off-site support and
outplacement supplied by public or private sector services. There are 16 case
studies illustrating effective practices and innovation in supporting redundant
workers, developed by enterprises and local partnerships. Supported by an
extensive multi-disciplinary review of policy, academic and practitioner literature,
the comparative review brings forward an inspiring pool of past and emerging
examples of successful interventions in different sectors and enterprise contexts.

1.1. Scope, objectives and methodology

Although the review began at the start of the deep economic recession in 2008, it
has not been concerned specifically with recessionary adjustment in enterprises.

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( ) The Draft joint employment report from the European Commission for 2009-10 has suggested
gradual recovery across the EU with a projected 0.7 rise in gross domestic product (GDP) in
the following year.

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