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Job quality is a major focus of policymakers around the world. For workers, the enterprises that employ them and for societies, there are benefits associated with high-quality jobs, and costs associated with poor-quality jobs. This report is the result of a project by the International Labour Organization and European Foundation for the Improvement of Living and Working Conditions (Eurofound). It provides a comparative analysis of job quality covering approximately 1.2 billion workers in Europe, Asia and the Americas. It analyses seven dimensions of job quality: the physical environment, work intensity, working time quality, the social environment, skills and development, prospects, and earnings, finding both important differences and similarities between countries. By analysing positive and negative aspects of job quality in different countries and societies, the report provides a way to look beyond national explanations, to see how some groups of workers are affected more than others and understand the particular issues for women workers around the world - in support of evidence-based policymaking to improve job quality.

Despite vast differences in economic structure, labour markets and development, 1.2 billion workers in 41 countries across the globe face common challenges and concerns: (1) women continue to face the most significant challenges; they earn significantly less than men and work more hours than men overall; (2) wide-scale differences in job quality in all countries are evident, reflecting the different nature of work across sectors, occupations and workplaces; (3) job insecurity is widespread and at least 30 per cent report being in a job without career prospects; (4) exposure to physical risks is still frequent across all countries, with repetitive hand and arm movements most reported; (5) working time differences are stark across the countries and regions covered with long working days common for over a third of workers; and (6) 70 per cent of all workers report a largely supportive social environment at work and high levels of satisfaction with their immediate supervisors.

Edited excerpts from publication. Show less

Low employment quality and precarious employment have been associated with adverse mental health outcomes, yet the extent to which this association may be explained by the experience of unemployment 'scarring' has not yet been explored. From a life course perspective, understanding this possible confounding is necessary. Drawing on the United Kingdom's Understanding Society dataset and using latent class analysis, we derived a typology of employment quality across six dimensions and assessed the links between individuals' employment quality, unemployment history, and mental well-being and psychological distress. Our results show that precarious types of employment as well as a higher quality 'protected part-time' were linked to low mental well-being, though important gender differences were noted. Accounting for past unemployment did not fully explain these associations. No such adverse associations were observed for increased psychological distress. Our results help further the understanding of employment quality as a social determinant of health and highlight the need for both life course and gender-sensitive research in this area.

Published abstract.

Forthcoming article first published online 22 October 2024 by Sage Publications. Show less