Labour market reforms have paid off too. Amid high joblessness, Europe’s peripheral economies enacted policies to boost skills development, and reduce long-term unemployment and precarious work. At the height of the crisis, Spain and Greece had jobless rates above 25 per cent. These have now more than halved. Finland, typically associated with lower Nordic unemployment levels, now has the highest rate in the EU. And as northern European nations struggle with skills shortages, Spain and Italy have implemented measures to attract foreign workers.