A total of 3.5 million people aged between 25 and 54 in the EU had recently left work in the third quarter of 2022, with 68.9% of them do for reasons related to the labor market (end of a fixed-term contract, dismissal or closure of a business for financial reasons) according to data released by Eurostat, the EU's statistical agency.
People who have recently left their job are defined as workers who left their job three months prior to data collection and are unemployed. The specific data focuses on the 25-54 age group.
This rate was 3.2 percentage points (pp) lower than in the third quarter of 2021 in this age group, as reported.
The corresponding rate in Cyprus in the third quarter of 2022 was 38.9%, however Eurostat did not provide data on changes in these rates at national level.
Among the Member States, the largest percentage of those leaving their work for reasons related to the labor market was recorded in Italy (89.9%), followed by Hungary (88.6%), Greece (87.6%), Spain (81.6%) and Croatia (70.6%).
The lowest rates among Member States were considerably lower, with the lowest recorded in the Netherlands (27.3%). This was followed by the Czech Republic (31.6%), Lithuania (32.3%), Estonia (36.6%) and Ireland.
At EU level, the percentage of those who have recently left their job for reasons related to the labor market was higher than average among people with a low level of education (74.6%). They were followed by people with a higher and medium level of education (67.8% and 66.2% respectively).
The most common reason why workers found themselves without a job was the end of a contract. Overall in the third quarter of 2022, 53.1% of those who left their jobs (1.8 million people) did so due to the end of a contract, recording a decrease of 3.9 pp compared to the same quarter in 2021 (57.0% , 2.0 million people).
Termination of contract was the most common reason for job termination among those with a low level of education (57.1%). They were followed by people with a high level of education (56.3%) and with a medium level of education (47.5%).
The second most common reason why workers found themselves without work was dismissal or closing the business for financial reasons (545 thousand people or 15.8% of all recently unemployed compared to 15.1% in the third quarter of 2021 ).
They are followed by people who left their job without stating a specific reason (478 thousand people, 13.9%), educational reasons or personal reasons (311 thousand people, 9.0%) and family reasons, illness or retirement (283 thousand people, 8.2%).
According to the same data, an increase in the number of people leaving their jobs for education and personal reasons has been recorded. In particular, during the third quarter of 2022 there was an increase of 1.9 p.m. compared to the third quarter of 2021 (from 246 thousand people to 311 thousand) for reasons that include caring for friends or non-relatives, resting, traveling or moving.
This increase was particularly high among those with a low level of education (increase of 2.6 pp to 5.9%) and among those with a high level of education (increase of 2.5 pp to 10.8%).< /p>
