The need for a new balance between flexibility and security is a central theme of EU labour policies. Let me say a little more. Employers need greater flexibility to cope with fluctuations in demand. Naturally, they are keen to secure staff with interchangeable skills and who are adaptable when it comes to working patterns, including working time arrangements. But the benefits are not one-sided.
Flexible arrangements can have advantages for employees, provided that they are negotiated.
For example, they can lead to working time arrangements which better suit private or family commitments. But security matters to workers too. Workers need to be reassured that after the changes are made, they will still have a job and that this job will last for a reasonable time. New forms of work organisation can offer people increased security, in the form of greater involvement in their work, more job satisfaction or new possibilities for developing skills and building long-term employability. This balance between flexibility and security is at the heart of all that we have been trying to achieve through labour policies at European level.