Introduction

The deterioration of employment conditions for an increasing number of employees in late capitalism has prompted researchers to find ways to conceptualise as well as measure the observed new tendencies. Although the term ‘precarity’ has been favoured by many, we envisage that what we observe nowadays resembles a process of precarisation whereby employees are observing a worsening of aspects of their employment. This tendency has been explained by various strands of the literature, but as mentioned in the first chapter of the book the structural elements of the precarisation processes seem to dominate. In addition to that, the book includes a discussion of the policy developments in a series of EU countries with the aim to show how precarisation has been directly linked with certain labour market reforms implemented both before and after the crisis. The conclusion we draw is that the crisis and the labour market reforms have constituted significant pillars of the strategy used by states and employers to respond to the crisis as well as promote their competitiveness agenda. The reduction of labour costs and the promotion of higher flexibility levels are the ultimate goals of that strategy, but the side effects include the inability to provide good quality jobs to a growing number of people, especially young people. The second part of the book has captured the extent of precarious employment utilising various measurements and providing comparable evidence across the EU. A notable intensification of precarious employment over the last decade has been recorded with certain, vulnerable, groups being more affected than others.