Fixed-term contracts are common, particularly among young workers and ideally they can act as a “bridge” to a permanent position. But the temporary contracts are in a weaker position relative to ongoing contracts, and layoffs have been concentrated on fixed-term contracts. So young people are in general in a weaker position due to their over-representation in these contracts.
The conditions for achieving price stability have not always been easy, and the ECB’s Governing Council has had to face a number of economic and political shocks since we began, in 1999, with a new institution, a new currency and a new framework for monetary policy-making.