Self-employment and the transformation of employment relationships in Europe

Abstract

Europe is currently witnessing a rise in the heterogeneity and multiplicity of models for utilising the productive capacity of the population. This applies both to formal salaried employment (subcontracting, temporary work, part-time work, casual work and zero-hour contracts, etc.) and its combination in various shapes and forms with different types of non-salaried work (self-employment, voluntary work, work placements, unpaid work, etc.) or even undeclared work. These unconventional ways of utilising labour frequently result in hybrid employment models and regimes that are often insufficiently or poorly formalised, but which nevertheless interact with the institutions and mechanisms of traditional salaried employment on a daily basis despite not fitting in very well with their structures. This wide range of employment models and regimes with different configurations presents significant challenges both with regard to the coordination and organisation of production and in terms of employment quality and protection. It also points to major changes in the structure of Europe’s employment regimes. This chapter will focus on one of these unconventional ways of utilising labour in Europe: self-employment.