News + Press

Digital overload, burnout and back to the office

We invite you to participate in our survey on workload, digital overload and burnout. The Working time and hybrid working decision (issued July 2021) setting out the proposed ‘new normal’ with its ‘disconnection bandwidth’ is still under discussion (follow-up meeting with HR 8 September) and we’d like to have your most recent, post-summertime input, especially in light of the move to Phase 3 of the return to the office strategy announced for Monday 20 September for all Commission sites [1].

Continue reading Digital overload, burnout and back to the office

Survey on workload, digital overload and burnout

*Update 01.09.2021: move to Phase 3 of the return to the office strategy announced for Monday 20 September for all Commission sites.*

Many of you, facing various issues, have contacted Generation 2004 throughout the pandemic. The vast majority of the difficulties raised relate to having difficulties to disconnect (also called Zoom fatigue) or having to be reachable all the time. Colleagues are also working additional hours, working late into the evening and during the weekends: e.g. because the workload has substantially increased in some directorates-general (those working on high-priority files, such as EU Green Deal, Recovery Resilience Facility (RRF), Multiannual Financial Framework (MFF)), or because of shortages of staff (those who leave not being replaced), or even just because it is difficult to decline that meeting or to reject that call from a colleague or superior. Additionally, external media outlets have reported that some directorates-general (DGs) face extreme workload related to priority files, which puts colleagues at risk of burnout. The situation might even more aggravate when we will move to the “New normal”. Continue reading Survey on workload, digital overload and burnout

Update to special-leave-for-parents petition

Further to our June 2020 article From the special-leave-for-parents petition to the social dialogue meeting and the closure of the corresponding petition for special leave for parents of young children in August 2020 with 2121 signatures, we continue to do what we can to ensure that your voice is heard and that parents of young children are not simply left to get on with it.  Continue reading Update to special-leave-for-parents petition

Teleworking from abroad: Survey results are out

Generation 2004 asked you for your opinion on this topic in a 10-question survey over 5 weeks October-November 2020 and 1 500 of you responded. The short answer to our question of whether you want to be able to telework from abroad is a resounding ‘YES!’: 93% (1 393) of those who responded would like to have that option available.

Though it must be noted that there are several different versions of ‘yes’ proposed and it was possible to select more than one of them: Yes, for a limited period like summer, Christmas etc./Yes, in exceptional situations like COVID‑19./Yes, permanently.

Continue reading Teleworking from abroad: Survey results are out

Crocodile tears at the Court of the Queen of Hearts

When Cersei Lannister, the evil queen of plotting and scheming in the popular Games of Thrones franchise, was slapped in the face by her husband Robert Baratheon, King of the Iron Throne, she uttered the defiant words “I shall wear this as a badge of honour.” She later exacted her revenge on him through a cunning plan, leading to his premature death. Continue reading Crocodile tears at the Court of the Queen of Hearts

Fact Checking

Save Europe’s real position on mobility

In the Save Europe (SE) message of 26 September 2018 you will discover, that without this Trade Union there would be almost no actions related to mobility… SE has only 2 votes, yes 2 votes, out of 27 in the LSC Brussels, and only one of them voted for the Position of the Brussels Local Staff Committee regarding future of the mobility in Region Brussels-Capital: the perspective and recommendations of the Commission’s staff. The other one did not even bother to participate in the written procedure. Nevertheless, if you really would like to see the real position of SE on mobility just watch this video at 36m30s.

Professional Mobility survey: the results are out!

In our previous Newsletter, we asked you to participate in a survey on professional mobility. Here is our analysis of the contributions we have received.

Let us start with the gist of it. In general, job mobility seems to be a positive thing (chart 1) while at the same time it seems to be difficult to achieve (chart 5): around 3 quarters think that the impact of a move is  neutral to very positive while the same share of respondents find it neutral to very difficult to move. Continue reading Professional Mobility survey: the results are out!