ABSTRACT
This chapter analyzes the institutional context in which companies and their employees develop strategies to achieve high productivity and satisfaction in the nine European countries studied in this book. It examines the economic, labor market and demographic trends in recent years in the nine countries which were part of the European Sustainable Workforce Survey, and focuses on the commonality and variance in employment, work–family policies and health policies in each participating country. The chapter provides the reader with a background against which the results of the empirical chapters can be interpreted, and it facilitates a comparative perspective of the institutional structures. Alongside a shared body of European regulations which have led to harmonization in some parts of the EU, national contexts still vary widely with regard to the position of older workers, the provisions surrounding work–family compatibility and the importance of lifelong learning, implying variation in the institutional preconditions for creating a sustainable workforce.
