European employers aren’t investing in new technology to support their remote workers, according to a survey by Ricoh Europe released in September.

It found that just 36% of European employers say their organisation has provided the tools and technology to maintain employee productivity while working from any location.

“Employers clearly value in-person collaboration — but they must strike a delicate balance between safeguarding culture and a sense of team, often best experienced though office-based working, with the virtues of hybrid working,” Ricoh Europe CEO David Mills says. “It is important to remember that technology that aids productivity for hybrid work will benefit people while they are in the office, too.”

The survey included 1,500 decision-makers across Europe.

European Parliament: platform workers need equal rights

Members of the European Parliament in September called for a European framework to guarantee that people working via digital platforms — such as food delivery services — receive the same level of social protection
as nonplatform workers in the same category.

This includes social security contributions, responsibility for health and safety and the right to engage in collective bargaining.

“Better access to social protection, improved working conditions, access to collective representation for the self-employed, clarification of their status, and the use of ethical algorithmic management are all issues that urgently need to be addressed at European level. We say yes to digital, but not at the expense of working rights,” says European Parliament Member Sylvie Brunet.

These platforms are also known as work services platforms. The European Parliament said workers on platforms are often misclassified.

Switch to electric vehicles could create 2.8 million jobs

Transitioning to electric vehicles could create 2.8 million jobs in Europe by 2030, but 2.4 million positions will change and require various degrees of reskilling, according to a report released this summer by the Platform for electromobility.

“It is key to support workers in this transition to electromobility: the EU, governments and companies should prioritise programs that will invest in the education, training, upskilling and reskilling of the labour force to capitalise on new opportunities, raise the bar on employment conditions, to ensure no one is left behind,” says Arne Richters, chair of the Platform for electromobility.

The switch to electric vehicles is also expected to create 60,000 new jobs in the energy domain, according to the organisation.

Bitkom says GDPR putting companies under constant pressure

Bitkom, a German association representing more than 2,700 digital companies, says Europe’s data protection rule is putting companies under constant pressure. It cited frequent new court decisions in Europe that can affect private businesses. In addition, support from regulatory bodies is lacking. Bikom also cited a survey of 502 companies with 20 employees or more that found that 50% believe Germany is overdoing it with data protection.

“Data protection plays an important role in a digital economy and society. However, companies are reporting a mounting lack of predictability and reliability,” says Susanne Dehmel, Bitkom’s managing director.

“Companies are under permanent stress when it comes to data protection,” Dehmel continues. “They are seeking to comply with data protection regulation. However, in order to do so, not only must they monitor court rulings from all over Europe and different interpretations from EU member states but also familiarize themselves with 18 different interpretations from data protection authorities in Germany alone.”

This, she says, is becoming increasingly hard to manage, especially for smaller companies.

Bitkom also says GDPR is hampering innovation by German businesses.