UK and Ireland

The British labour market is one of the least regulated in the world and is
characterized by an increase in self-employment, in short-term
employment and in flexible working employment.
The Irish labour market is comparatively less deregulated and was until recently
highly controlled by the state.
However both labour markets are characterized by:
High level of employment in the services sector (46% in the UK and
65% in Ireland);
Rising unemployment but comparatively low;
Equal opportunities;
Shortages in skilled labour;
Increasing women employment;
Increasing migrant labour;
Ageism; and
Flexible working practices
 USA and Canada
• The labour markets of both Canada and the USA can be described as
flexible, diverse, relatively stable, and increasingly knowledge-based.
• The demand side of the labour markets of both countries has been driven
by a knowledge-based economy associated with international competition
and technological developments.
• The supply side has been characterised by a rise in the highly educated
workforce, a relative increase in older employees, and a significant
participation of women and ethnic minorities (immigrant labour).
• Factors affecting the current labour market trends are:
– Flexible working practices
– Job insecurity
– High turnover
– Transferable skills and competitiveness
 China and Hongkong
• The Chinese workforce increases by about 10 million employees per annum with a participation rate
of over 97% from a workforce of around 807.3 m workers in 2008 (World Factbook, 2010).
• The level of employment by sector is still dominated by agriculture, forestry and fishing (45 percent),
followed by the services sector (31 percent) and then industry (24 percent) in 2007.
• Hong Kong’s workforce is made of nearly 4m workers; most of them are skilled and highly educated.
The participation rate is at about 70% and unemployment is at around 5% but much of the surplus
labour moves to Mainland China where there is a shortage of skilled labour.
The current labour market is characterized by:
Younger working population (but not for long)
Controlled unemployment level (low but rising)
Public sector and state-owned companies employment
Loyal, committed and law abiding workforce
High level of women employment
Shortages of skilled labour
Rural-Urban migration and emigration to other countries
The attraction of joint ventures and foreign owned companies
Stratification and exploitation of the labour force
A move from full time and permanent to part-time and contractual employment
A move from secure to insecure employment opportunities.
 Japan and South Korea
• In overall the labour markets of both countries are
characterized by:
– A low level of unemployment;
– Declining employment in agriculture and industrial sector but rising
employment in the services sector (>67% in both countries)
– The domination of conglomerates (Chaebol and Zaibatsu) employment
practices;
– Employment created by the spread of foreign direct investments (this is
more for South Korea than Japan);
– Hard-working, multi-skilled, committed and loyal workforce;
– Limited opportunities for women employment;
– Relatively older working population; and
– Restricted foreign labour employment despite the need for emigrant
workforce, especially in Japan.
 France and Belgium
• In France, out of a population of nearly 61m people about 28m are
economically active. Belgium has a workforce of about 5m from a
population of just over 10m (Eurostat, 2009).
• The main features that have characterized the labour markets of both
countries are:
– A short working week (35 hrs in France and 38 hrs in Belgium);
– A relatively high level of unemployment;
– A high level of state intervention in the regulation of the labour
market;
– A highly qualified and professional workforce;
– A shortage of skilled workforce and a surplus in manual labour
– An increase in the use of flexible working practices (part-time work);
– An implicit equal opportunities policy but most explicit discrimination in
employment against certain nationalities;
– An increase in women employment;
– A high level of immigrant workers; and
– A rising number of older workers.
 Germany and the Netherlands
• Germany is the most populated country in Western Europe with more
than 82m inhabitants and has a workforce of more than 43m workers
(Eurostat, 2009)
• The Netherlands is a small country with a population of about 17m people
and a workforce of about 8m workers.
• In overall, the labour markets of both countries are characterized by:
– A significant level of employment in the industrial sector;
– A well educated and skilled workforce;
– A relatively low level of unemployment in general;
– A rise in youth unemployment;
– Equal opportunities and diversity in employment;
– A comparatively low level of women participation in employment [Until
the 20th century the role of women in German society was confined to
three Ks: Kinder (children), Küche (kitchen) and Kirche (church)] ;
– An ageing population of employees; and
– An increasing population of immigrant workers (more than 10m
immigrants in Germany, United Nations, 2006).
 Nigeria and African Countries
• High unemployment in general (20-30 %)
• Youth unemployment in particular (over 30%)
• Declining public sector employment
• Growth of informal sector
• Surplus of unskilled and uneducated workforce
• Low level of formal employment for women
• Child labour and illegal employment practices
• Effects of HIV and AIDS on employment
• Immigration of skilled and professional labour (brain drain)
• Shortage of skilled and professional labour.
Saudi Arabia and Arab Countries
– Imbalanced distribution of labour (Surplus versus Shortage; National
versus Expatriate)
– High level of youth unemployment (over 30% in some countries)
– Declining public sector employment and increasing private sector
(SMEs) employment but not enough investments to absorb the
surplus of unskilled labour in some countries.
– The move from foreign to local labour employment (localization)
– Public versus private sector employment
– Foreign investors employment
– Surplus of unskilled and uneducated workforce
– Increasing participation of women in the labour market
– Child labour and illegal employment practices
– Immigration of skilled and professional labour (brain drain)