COVID-19
COVID-19 brought change to many aspects of our working and family lives and, likewise, all of Eurofound’s research areas have been marked by COVID-19. The Agency rolled out several rounds of the now landmark Living and Working in the EU online survey to analyse the rapid change that ensued after the outbreak of the pandemic. Simultaneously, the analyses in existing surveys and other research have specifically looked at the impacts of the pandemic across the board.
The long-term impacts of the pandemic on life and the world of work continues to be a part of upcoming research, looking at labour market change, how digitisation has changed the workplace, how COVID-19 has impacted business continuity and how crises impact equality and cohesion in Europe.
Find the latest content on this topic below.
Last updated: 9 September 2026
This section describes the research that Eurofound carries out on a topic.
Eurofound’s work on COVID-19 examines the far-reaching socioeconomic implications of the pandemic across Europe and their impact on living and working conditions. Drawing on its Network of Eurofound Correspondents, while also adapting the focus of its in-house resources, Eurofound monitors the critical changes the crisis has brought to the labour market, working conditions and quality of life across the EU and aims to map how different Member States have responded to the challenges that have emerged. In response to COVID-19, Eurofound adjusted its research to:
collect data regarding the impact of this unprecedented situation on the lives of Europeans via its unique online survey launched in April 2020, as well as monitor measures taken by policy actors to combat the effects of the pandemic on employment, working conditions and living conditions
provide an analysis of specific topics, such as employment effects, effects on specific sectors, effectiveness of specific measures (for example, short-time work schemes).
Explore more:
Other relevant resources:
Restructuring events database: impact of COVID-19 on the employment effects of large-scale restructuring events in Europe
European Jobs Monitor: the changing employment structure in Europe in view of the crisis
EU PolicyWatch: database on the responses of government and social partners to the crisis, based on research from the Network of Eurofound Correspondents
Restructuring support instruments - EU PolicyWatch: recording measures which support companies that are restructuring, as well as the employees affected, highlighting when a case is relevant to COVID-19
Platform economy initiatives - COVID-19: how the crisis impacts platform work and platform workers
Infographic: Living, working and COVID-19PDF: Covering rounds 1 to 3 of the e-survey
Last updated: 6 September 2026
This describes the EU context.
Since 2020, national and EU authorities have launched a range of support measures to respond to the impact of the COVID-19 crisis, which has affected the regular life and work of people in the EU. Specific sectors, many self-employed people and SMEs have been particularly affected by the fallout of the pandemic.
While the EU does not have direct legislative power over health matters (this being the responsibility of individual Member States), the response of the EU – and particularly the European Commission – has focused on stabilising the EU economy, putting in place border control measures, reinforcing our public health sectors, securing the production of vaccines for citizens, as well as supporting various business sectors.
On 10 February 2021, the Commission welcomed the European Parliament’s approval of the €672.5 billion Recovery and Resilience Facility available to EU Member States to support reforms and investments under NextGenerationEU, the temporary instrument designed to boost recovery and help Europe emerge stronger from the crisis. The Facility runs until end of December 2026 and is closely linked with the Commission priorities for a greener, more digital and more resilient Europe.
European Commission: Coronavirus response: Timeline of EU actionopens in new tab
European Commission: Recovery and Resilience Facilityopens in new tab
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