The project responds to one of Europe’s most pressing challenges: by 2050, more than 1.6 million additional long-term care workers will be needed to maintain current standards of care. However, low wages, demanding working conditions, and limited career prospects continue to hinder recruitment and retention across the sector.
The Quality Jobs 4 Care project aims to strengthen collective bargaining in the social services sector as a key mechanism for improving working conditions, increasing staff retention, and ensuring high-quality care services.
Duration: July 2026 – July 2028
Funding: The European Union under the Employment and Social Innovation (EaSI) strand of the European Social Fund Plus (ESF+), managed by the European Commission (DG EMPL).
Consortium
- UNIPSO
- EPSU
- NEXEM
- Social Employers
Aims
- Training on European labour law to raise awareness among social partners of EU directives related to workers’ rights and status, and strengthen their capacity in preparation for the analysis of collective agreements.
- Analysis of collective agreements to provide a comparative overview of collective bargaining agreements in the social services sector through an online questionnaire, targeted interviews, a validation workshop, and a final analytical report. This will support mutual learning between countries with well-established or emerging social dialogue systems.
- Capacity-building events bringing together service providers and workers’ representatives to present the project’s findings and identify country-specific needs and next steps.
- Engagement of national experts from seven countries with collective agreements in the social services sector: Austria, Belgium, Czechia, France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, and Spain.
Deliverables
- Analytical Report on National Collective Agreements in the Social Services Sector
- EU Labour Law Training Materials
- Reports from National Capacity-Building Events
- Project Newsletters
- Final European Conference
For more information, please contact:
Tamara Gomez-Sanchez
Project Officer
tamara.gomez-sanchez(at)socialemployers.eu