Overview

This debate focuses on Barómetro das Crises’ latest issues on economic recovery, structural economic changes and the quality of new jobs created. The new Barometer of the Observatory on Crises and Alternatives "Retoma Económica: o lastro chamado precariedade" [Economic Recovery: the ballast called precariousness] confirms the continuance of trends already detected: the structure of dependent employment, by type of contract, has not improved; the weight of permanent contracts in new contracts remains low, although 2017 witnessed a slight improvement; the disparity between the number of contracts signed and in force continues to be indicative of the volatility of employment contracts; the predominance of precariousness is followed up by a deterioration of the average remuneration of the new permanent contracts, at the same time as there has been rise in the average remuneration of non-permanent contracts, due to the effect of updating the National Minimum Wage - increasingly the reference remuneration for the generality of new employment contracts. This situation is expressed in the Barometer "A dupla face da recuperação: subida do emprego, estagnação da produtividade" [The double face of recovery: rising employment, stagnation of productivity], published in November, which points out that the economic recovery is occurring mainly in services activities linked to tourism and to others where the potential for productivity growth is low.

Given this scenario, we need to find policy responses so that the recovery is translated into a more diversified economic structure, creating better paid and rights-based employment. This is the challenge that guides this debate.

Interventions
João Ramos de Almeida, economist, CRISALT
Nuno Teles, economist, researcher at CES-UC / CRISALT
João Galamba, Socialist Party MP to the Assembly of the Republic
José Soeiro, Bloco de Esquerda MP to the Assembly of the Republic

More information
Observatory on Crises and Alternatives | observatoriocrises@ces.uc.pt | 216 012 848