Oireachtas Joint and Select Committees

Wednesday, 1 October 2025

Committee on European Union Affairs

Eurofound: Discussion

2:00 am

Mr. Ivailo Kalfin:

I would say this is the new normal across Europe, especially after Covid. Many people changed their work after Covid. People realised that they were not bound to their work. They started to exercise preferences, choosing work, life balance and so on. During Covid, there were general subsidies for the hospitality sector, for example. After Covid, those people who were receiving wage subsidies disappeared because they did not want to work in that sector any more. The interesting thing is that they did not go on the live register but became self-employed, working in the platform economy delivering different services part-time and so on. This is where they went. There is a huge shift in preferences in the type of work people want. For young people, this is already very high on the priority list. They want to be more independent, are willing to change jobs and less willing to make compromises in the workplace. Of course, this is helped by the very low unemployment levels. It is relatively easy to change jobs but the demands and expectations are very high. This is the legacy that we are going to have to live with post Covid. It is not something that will change. In general, people are looking for much more autonomy, for work, life balance and the possibility of flexible work and they will change company for this.

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