As a result, the unions are losing their attraction, especially among young workers. In all European countries, unions now face declining membership and influence. Unions are almost nonexistent in the growth sectors of information and communications technology, or in the new media and software companies. In the new companies of the New Economy, everyday working reality is closer to that of a freelancer than of a salaryman. The hours shift from week to week.
Employees often own shares in the company.
The old doctrine of the unions, based on a contradiction between labor and capital, is losing its force. Labor organizations are beginning to understand the demands of this new labor world. Recently, German unions for the first time expressed support for employee shares in equity and productive capital, and for supplementary pension plans that make use of the market. But reform in Germany is still blocked by the country's complex and inflexible system of regional, industry-wide wage agreements. Ironically, all he did was to describe a condition that has long been a reality of the online economy.