Salary, Job Security Most Important for EU Job Seekers

Bulgaria in EU | October 6, 2009, Tuesday

As unemployment increases, people may be more concerned with their immediate job security than with the safety and health of their working conditions. Photo by BGNES

Salary and job security are the most important deciding factor for for choosing a new job according to European Union citizens.

The European Agency for Safety and Health at Work (EU-OSHA) has just released the results of a Europe-wide opinion poll on safety and health at work, ranking safe and healthy working conditions third in the poll before working hours.

According to the findings, there is widespread concern among European citizens that the current economic crisis could adversely affect health and safety at work, putting at risk the improvements that they report having seen over the last five years.

As unemployment increases, people may be more concerned with their immediate job security than with the safety and health of their working conditions.

The encouraging news is that people within many of the Member States (particularly EU-15) regard themselves as well informed about risks in the workplace and 57% of respondents believe that health and safety at work has improved over the last five years.

The opinion poll also reflects gender variations in attitudes towards OSH. Male participants regarded salary (61%) and job security (55%) as the most important factor when taking a new job, in comparison to lower percentages among female respondents (53% and 51%, respectively). On the contrary, women seem to give more importance to working hours (26%) than men (19%).

In addition, more male respondents believe that health and safety conditions have improved over recent years (62%) than their female counterparts (only 52%) and men feel better informed on safety and health matters (71%) than women (61%).