Commissioner Schmit emphasizes the need for human-centered recovery

EU Commissioner for Jobs and Social Rights Nicolas Schmit has emphasized the need for a human-centered recovery in Europe following the COVID-19 pandemic, and the important work of Eurofound in combining scientific research with an approach that resonates with people’s lives across the EU. Commissioner Schmit was addressing staff at Eurofound during a two-day visit to Dublin, during which he also participated at the 7thFoundation Forum in Dublin Castle.

Commissioner Schmit met with Eurofound staff members during his visit, noting the value of Eurofound’s recent work on telework, minimum wages, youth, gender equality, just transitions, and convergence. He emphasized the importance of this research, not just for the work of the European institutions, but also for policymakers across Europe. With regards to convergence, the Commissioner spoke about the clarity that Eurofound’s research had brought in highlighting the impact that EU and national-level policy and fiscal interventions had in mitigating the economic and employment impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic.

“Eurofound produces valuable work tracking important trends and changes in employment and social policies, this work is fundamental for evidence-based public policy development. The coordination between Eurofound and other European institutions is already very close, we wish to continue this, draw on the talents and resources that Eurofound has, and, in particular, its unique combination of a scientific approach and a human-centered perspective on social, economic, and employment-related developments,” Schmit said.

(WBJ)