International: Fixed-term work increases in the EU

Since 2000, the proportion of EU employees working on fixed-term contracts has increased quite sharply, from about 14% to 15% among women and from 12.5% to 14% among men, according to recent figures from Eurostat. At the same time, the proportion of those working in fixed-term jobs who do so involuntarily - that is, because they could not find an open-ended job, rather than through choice - has risen.