Innovative recruitment systems in the fisheries sector - A study by Eurofound -

Transcription

1 Innovative recruitment systems in the fisheries sector - A study by Eurofound - Sectoral Social Dialogue Committee on Sea Fisheries 24 April /10/2007 1

2 Stakeholder Enquiry Service (SES) What is it? Customer oriented rapid-response research tool 4/5 month turn around Who is it for? EF stakeholders (EU institutions, SPs, Gvts) Funding available per study What are the criteria for applying? European impact of research question, useful to parties beyond the requesting organisation/s 30/10/2007 2

3 Objectives of the study & deliverables Analysis of recruitment challenge in EU fisheries Trends and drivers (internal and external) Identify innovative recruitment measures Initiatives aimed at retaining and/or attracting people to the sector Assess successes and failures of each measure Potential transferability Four national studies & comparative report DK, ES, FR, NL 30/10/2007 3

4 Methodology Quantitative & qualitative analysis of secondary sources Existing literature; policy papers; statistical data; company reports Empirical research In-depth analysis of 2 national case study examples of innovative recruitment practices Face to face and telephone interviews with all actors involved 30/10/2007 4

5 Highest landings of any EU country (~850,000 tonnes) 05 mainly low value pelagics for fish oil and meal so lowest value of four countries (~ 350 million 2005) ~ 3,000 vessels, providing jobs Fisheries production = 0.5 of GDP Capture fisheries represents 0.15% of economy Some high fisheries dependence (Jutland, Bornholm) 30/10/2007 5

6 Highest value landings of any EU country (~ 1,620m, 2005) Largest EU fishing fleet (>13,000 vessels) 44,000 jobs on board fishing vessels Fisheries production = 0.2% of GDP Capture fisheries represents 0.16% of economy High fisheries dependence in Galicia particularly Andalucía, Basque country and Canaries also important 30/10/2007 6

7 Relatively high value landings (~ 1,000 million, 2004) ~ 5,000 vessels, providing jobs Fisheries production = 0.2% of GDP Capture fisheries represents 0.07% of economy, lower than ES & DK High fisheries dependence in a few areas (parts of Brittany) 30/10/2007 7

8 Modest landings sector not particularly important in EU terms (~ 380 million 2005) 420 vessels, providing jobs Fisheries production = 0.1% of GDP Capture fisheries represents 0.02% of economy, lowest of the four Fisheries dependence very low 30/10/2007 8

9 The relative economic contribution of fisheries in each country (contribution of sector to GDP) Denmark Spain France Netherlands Contribution of the total sector 0.5 % 0.2 % 0.2 % 0.1 % Contribution of capture fisheries alone 0.15 %* 0.16 % 0.07 % 0.02 % 30/10/2007 9

10 Comparison of employment data in the four countries, 2005 Denmark Spain France Netherlands Jobs in fisheries sector (% national total) (0.5%) (0.4%) (0.2%) (0.1%) Jobs on board fishing vessels (% national total) (0.13%) (0.24%) (0.08%) (0.03%) Fisheries sector dependence High in a few areas Very high in Galicia, high in a few other areas High in a few limited areas Low Crew Wages Good Moderate; declining on smaller vessels, better on larger Good Good, particularly in freezer trawler fleet; declining in beam trawl fleet Source: EU and national statistics * /10/

11 General outlook for fleets Landings down, particularly for fleets targeting white fish and flat fish due to reduction in TACs under CFP Income from landings generally down in real terms although not as rapidly as landings Costs rising, particularly for fuel but also technological equipment, training, servicing and maintenance Difficult and costly economic situation 30/10/

12 Recruitment Challenge: general issues Mainly faced by larger vessels: i) require more crew ii) long trips away from home Wages sometimes an issue (ES) but not always: wages on FR, NL, DK offshore vessels generally good Poor image of fisheries, not an attractive option environmental issues pessimism within industry Other issues country-specific: generational, working conditions, no political support for sector, H&S 30/10/

13 Recruitment measures Different types of measures in each case: addressing rather different recruitment problems Flexible (DK, NL) v less flexible labour markets (FR, ES) Employment (DK, NL) v unemployment (FR, ES) Working conditions & future career prospects (ALL) Green conscience and image (DK, NL increasing in FR, ES) Generational takeover & pessimism (ALL) Effort put into recruitment measures proportional to economic and socio-cultural importance of sector Denmark and Spain: high; France: medium; Netherlands: low 30/10/

14 Main type of recruitment measures Training & LLL Long-term unemployed, women, immigrants (ES, FR) Education Certificates and cross-sectoral recognition of qualifications (FR, DK, NL) Media campaigns to improve image Large public funding and investment (DK) to a lesser extent in NL Working conditions Improving life on board, safety, work environment (DK, ES) However. success and impact remains limited!!! Almost impossible to measure direct link with increased recruitment Partnership based approaches work best 30/10/

15 Summary of measures DENMARK SPAIN Perceived problem Poor public image Lack of knowledge about work in the sector Need to find new recruits General objective of measures Inform the public and promote employment opportunities Attract new recruits and train longterm unemployed / poorly educated Innovative aspects of measures Use of media and technology in a sophisticated way; well funded educational system Providing tailored training and support Success of measures Failures of measures Success in enrolment in fisheries education but direct link with projects cannot be determined clearly Difficult to eradicate the negative image of the sector green conscience Project produced new recruits who started to work onboard fishing vessels New employees did not stay onboard vessels for long Women did not take up employment onboard 30/10/

16 Summary of measures Perceived problem FRANCE Lack of access to training and lack of flexibility for fisheries workers NETHERLANDS Poor public image of sector as an employer; lack of knowledge about work in sector General objective of measures Innovative aspects of measures Success of measures Failures of measures Provide greater access to fisheries training LLL To allow for greater flexibility in entering and leaving the market Towards increased mobility and flexibility, recognition of importance of LLL from early on Too early to say Too early to say Inform the public about the maritime sector and promote employment opportunities (fisheries only a small component) No particularly innovative components as far as the fisheries sector is concerned Difficult to say: likely that the effects on fisheries recruitment is at best limited Difficult to determine 30/10/

17 Cross cutting issues Wages although not as important as initially thought Finance Public financing is key, industry support, EU funds Status of fleet marketing v conditions on board, low activity: quotas Networks pooling of efforts, partnership based approaches Training LLL, wages during training, scheduling & delivering Labour shortages immigrant groups, qualifications, work permits Qualifications immigrant labour, mobility across sectors Marketing image, costly media campaigns, direct vs indirect Green issues conservation, depletion, need to address over capacity..could lead to smaller fleet with less recruitment problems 30/10/

18 Conclusion 1 short vs long-term solutions Pragmatic short-term solution seen in Spain: recruitment of new sources of workers, particularly immigrants Long-term structural solution more difficult requires industry to address issues of modernisation, quality of life onboard, over-capacity etc. 30/10/

19 Conclusions II: Transferability to new Member States? Problems similar: over-capacity, declining stocks, need to modernise fleet Need for flexible labour market and access to training highlighted by study EU-wide and international recognition of qualifications likely to be increasingly important to industry 30/10/

20 Conclusions III: Employment flows into vs. out of fisheries Analysis of recruitment challenge suggests that problems arise because fishermen are LEAVING fisheries (flow out), but initiatives mainly designed to encourage people INTO fisheries (flow in) Fundamental reasons for recruitment problem not being addressed ecological and economic crisis in EU fisheries 30/10/

21 Thank you for your attention Gregorio de Castro 30/10/