In 2015，the number of the unemployed reached 197.1 million-over 27 million higher than pre-crisis levels. Despite falling unemployment in some developed economies，global unemployment is projected to rise over the next two years. Today，changes of the employment relationship have a significant impact on the standard employment. As a consequence，the number of wage employees account for only half of the global employment and informal employment continues to be widespread in many countries. This may intensify income inequalities. Therefore，it is imperative for policy-makers to take measures to boost decent jobs and avoid the risk of social unrest.

With the ageing population as well as the impact of the global financial crisis and weak economic recovery，about half of OECD countries have taken measures to improve the financial sustainability of their pension systems over the past two years. Various mechanisms were adopted to limit the effect of shorter careers on pensions in some countries. In addition，measures on pension reforms were put in place between September 2013 and September 2015 by many OECD countries.

In 2014，membership trends differed for trade unions across EU countries，with the number of trade union members continuously declining in some countries while remaining stable in others. The growth in collectively agreed pay in nominal terms in the EU slowed down in comparison of previous years. The average collectively agreed weekly working time of 38.1 hours in the EU remain unchanged between 2013 and 2014. Figures on industrial action for 2014 suggest that 2014 has been the calmest year recorded since 1990，only 24 working days were lost per 1000 employees on average.