What future for manufacturing in the EU?

Economic and labour market developments since 2008 have highlighted the importance of manufacturing for economies in the internet-driven era of globalisation. Eurofound’s pilot project on the future of manufacturing aims to examine the implications for employment across Europe. Developed at the instigation of the European Parliament and delegated to Eurofound by the European Commission (DG GROW), the project commenced in April 2015 and will run until 2019.

Different modules of the project will focus on aspects such as skills and tasks content, key jobs, the role of wages, relocation of manufacturing activities, entrepreneurship and the impact of new, game-changing technologies. The next milestones are the regional industrial policy seminar in West Sweden on 25–27 May and an inter-service steering group meeting organised by DG GROW in Brussels on 2 June.