This paper aims at reviewing the trend of atypical employment in E.U. countries in the 1990s. It overviews the development of three groups of atypical employment, i.e. part-time work, fixed-term employment and temporary agency work. In the 1990s, part-time jobs increased considerably in most countries. An extreme case, in the Netherlands, part-time employment now accounts for around 40% of all employment.
Today, part-time workers are a diversified group, ranging from low-paid workers with semi-unemployment jobs to people who prefer to combine short-time work and family life. Fixed-term and temporary agency employment are also on the rise. In particular, the latter tends to profit from the relaxation of regulations that occurred in many countries in the 1990s.
At the E.U. level, two EU directives were recently adopted on atypical employment (part-time work in 1997 and fixed-term employment in 1999). Utilizing the procedure of social dialogue, employers' and workers' organizations reached an agreement, which was endorsed by the EU Commission. The EU Commission has just made a proposal on the question of temporary agency work.
