Work, Labour Markets and Labour Market Policy

Standard employment contracts are becoming obsolete, the employment rate is significantly lower than in the 70s and there are increasing signs of a post work society. Nevertheless, Austria’s society can still be characterised as one that is work-oriented. Paid work enables social participation and plays a vital role in the daily lives of wage-earners. L&R Social Research specialises in exploring this central societal sphere focusing on following:

• changes in the working world
• precarious work
• gender inequality in the working world

How do technological changes influence daily work routines of employees? What impacts will increasing precarious work have on affected workers? How do those changes affect existing gender inequality? Finding answers to these questions is what L&R Social Research does.

Changes occurring in the working world have to always be seen as the result of the combined influences of employees, enterprises, social partners and politics. Therefore, L&R Social Research wants to highlight opportunities to shape the changes in the working world and to analyse the results of those shaping approaches from the perspective of all participants involved.

Additionally, research activities in this field explore the effects of labour market-related measures and programmes including analyses of impacts on employment and fiscal effects of funding instruments and programmes. Results of such evaluations provide the basis for optimal labour market policy intervention.