The importance of SMEs as innovators of sustainable inclusive employment : new evidence from regional and local labour markets SMEs are the backbone of the European economy but in regional and local labour market monitoring approaches their specificities are not yet well considered. As SMEs have to compete with larger companies for human resources they develop creative strategies for recruiting and retaining employees. This overall flexible approach proves to be a good tactic for staying in business e.g. during a pandemic. This publication delivers insights on the statistical relevance of SMEs and their importance for the functioning of regional and local labour markets. Additionally it offers an organisational perspective on specific conditions for human resource management within European national regional and local policy frameworks. Most of the contributions in this anthology show insights drawn from the current COVID 19 pandemic. This perspective leads to further discussions on how these insights can be used to develop new concepts for regional and local labour market monitoring beyond the pandemic.