How Bulgaria Got to Join the Euro, and What It Means
The southeast European country would become only the second nation to join the euro in the past decade, after Croatia. Successive Bulgarian governments have overseen preparations for the change in the hope it will narrow a wide income gap with wealthier member states.
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Business Upturn
an hour ago
- Business Upturn
KPIT Technologies completes acquisition of Caresoft for $157 million
By Aditya Bhagchandani Published on August 16, 2025, 13:11 IST KPIT Technologies announced on Friday that it has completed the acquisition of Caresoft, finalizing the deal at a revised value of up to USD 157 million. The transaction covers Caresoft Global Technologies, Inc. USA, Caresoft Engineering Services Limited, UK, CAREGLOTECH de RL de CV Mexico, and OXI SRL Italy. The acquisition was first disclosed in May 2025 with an estimated deal size of USD 191 million. However, after negotiations and considering changes in the global business environment, the final consideration was reduced to USD 157 million, which also includes a USD 15 million variable pay component tied to revenue and business synergy milestones. Ahead of the completion, KPIT had infused EURO 28 million and USD 28 million into its UK and US subsidiaries, respectively, to strengthen the capital structure required for the acquisition. Following the satisfaction of all precedent conditions, KPIT Technologies (UK) Limited and KPIT Technologies Inc, USA have paid the initial consideration of USD 51 million to acquire full ownership of the Caresoft entities. This acquisition aligns with KPIT's strategy of strengthening its global presence in automotive engineering and expanding capabilities across the U.S., Europe, and Mexico. Ahmedabad Plane Crash Aditya Bhagchandani serves as the Senior Editor and Writer at Business Upturn, where he leads coverage across the Business, Finance, Corporate, and Stock Market segments. With a keen eye for detail and a commitment to journalistic integrity, he not only contributes insightful articles but also oversees editorial direction for the reporting team.
Yahoo
3 hours ago
- Yahoo
Which nations have the highest and lowest minimum wages across Europe?
Millions of workers across the EU continue to earn minimum wage. The thresholds are intended to provide a basic standard of living for workers, although the levels have often failed to increase with inflation. As of July 2025, the monthly minimum wage before deductions in the EU ranged from €551 in Bulgaria, to €2,704 in Luxembourg, according to Eurostat. When EU candidate countries are included, Ukraine has the lowest minimum wage, at just €164. Five EU countries—Italy, Denmark, Sweden, Austria, and Finland—do not have a national minimum wage at all. Though Luxembourg ranks at the top and Ukraine at the bottom, when adjusted for purchasing power, how does the minimum wage across Europe compare country by country? Gross minimum wages in Europe As the chart below shows, there are significant differences in minimum wages across Europe, and Eurostat groups countries into three wage levels. Euronews has added a fourth category which groups nations with minimum wages under €600 and includes EU candidate countries. 1- Highest Group: Above €1,500 Except for France, which offers €1,802, all other countries in the highest group pay over €2,000 in monthly minimum wage. Besides, Luxembourg, these include Ireland (€2,282), the Netherlands (€2,246), Germany (€2,161), and Belgium (€2,112). 2- Mid group: Between €1,000 and €1,500. This group includes Spain (€1,381), Slovenia (€1,278), Poland (€1,100), Lithuania (€1,038), Greece (€1,027), Portugal (€1,015), and Cyprus (€1,000). Several countries in the mid group are just above the €1,000 threshold. Several countries in the mid group are just above the €1,000 threshold. 3- Low group: Between €600 and €999 Croatia (€970), Malta (€961), Estonia (€886), Czechia (€841), Slovakia (€816), Romania (€797), Latvia (€740), Hungary (€727), Montenegro (€670) and Serbia (€618) belong to the low group of minimum wage countries in Europe, with wages falling between €600 and €999. 4-Very low group: Below €600 Several countries, including one EU member, have minimum wages below €600. This lowest group is mostly made up of EU candidate countries. It includes North Macedonia (€584), Turkey (€558), Bulgaria (€551), Albania (€408), Moldova (€285), and Ukraine (€164). Related Can you afford to live here? Europe's cities ranked by rent-to-salary ratio Europe's job market: Which sector has the most job postings? Top 20 revealed Minimum wages reflect East–West divide As the map below shows, there is a strong geographical divide in nominal minimum wages across Europe. This is most notably between Western and Eastern Europe. In general, the four wage groups reflect different regions of the EU. Countries in the highest group are mainly in Western and Northern Europe. The mid group includes several countries from Southern and Central Europe. The low and very low groups consist mostly of Eastern European, Balkan, and EU candidate countries. Role of higher productivity on wages According to Dr. Sotiria Theodoropoulou of the European Trade Union Institute (ETUI), higher productivity usually equates to sustainably higher wages and salaries in general. Economies with more industrial or financial activity tend to be more productive, and high-tech industries also typically show higher productivity levels. Higher bargaining power for workers is another factor. Related Educated but still unemployed: How does unemployment vary among university graduates across Europe? Is August the worst month to invest in European stocks? Minimum wage rankings shift with purchasing power When comparing minimum wages across countries, purchasing power standards (PPS) are important because the cost of living varies widely. PPS provides a fairer comparison by using an artificial currency that reflects what people can actually buy in each country. One PPS is an artificial currency unit that, in theory, buys the same amount of goods and services in every country, according to Eurostat. When adjusted for purchasing power, the wage gaps between countries become significantly narrower. For example, in Luxembourg, the minimum wage is 4.9 times that of Bulgaria — the highest and lowest in the EU. In PPS terms, this gap narrows to 2.3 times. While Luxembourg (2,035) still ranks at the top, Estonia (886) has the lowest PPS minimum wage. When EU candidate countries are included, Albania is an outlier at the bottom, with a PPS of 566. At the top, Germany, the Netherlands, and Belgium follow Luxembourg. Ireland and France come next. While Eastern and Balkan countries often rank low in euro terms, they perform much better in PPS terms. Western European countries still lead, but their advantage is smaller. For example, seven EU member states rank below North Macedonia, Turkey, and Montenegro in PPS terms. These include Malta, Hungary, Slovakia, Czechia, Bulgaria, Latvia, and Estonia. In addition to Turkey and North Macedonia, Romania also ranks significantly higher in PPS. Montenegro and Bulgaria hold relatively stronger positions as well. Estonia and Czechia are the two countries that lost the most ground in PPS rankings compared to their positions in euro terms. Minimum wages changes over the past 6 and 12 months Over the last six months, from January to July 2025, the minimum wage remained unchanged in most EU and candidate countries. In euro terms, North Macedonia recorded the highest increase at 7.7%, followed by Greece with 6.1%. Turkey saw the largest drop, with a 21.2% decline, followed by a 9.9% fall in Ukraine. In candidate countries, changes in exchange rates played a major role. For example, in Turkey, the minimum wage stayed the same in Turkish lira during this period. However, minimum wage earners have been hit hardest by the highest inflation rate in Europe. Between July 2024 and July 2025, Montenegro and North Macedonia recorded the highest increases in minimum wages, both above 20%. In contrast, Ukraine and Turkey experienced the largest declines. Among eurozone countries, Croatia saw the biggest rise at 15.5%, followed by Lithuania with 12.3%. In France, the increase was modest at just 2%. Spain and Germany recorded slightly higher gains, with 4.4% and 5.2% respectively. However, when inflation is taken into account, the real value of these increases is likely much smaller. The UK National Minimum Wage increased by 6.7% from April 2025. 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Yahoo
3 hours ago
- Yahoo
Warning signs in Europe's job market: Workers now brace for tariff effects
Much attention has been given to how US import tariffs might hit Europe's industries and corporate giants as the once-solid transatlantic trading relationship faces one of the biggest challenges of the modern era. One area that has been largely ignored — the fate of workers — could also suffer, as ripples in the EU's economic stability lead to a reduction in job opportunities and weakened employment stability. Here's an overview of what to expect in the months ahead. Job vacancy rate One indicator of labour market health is the rate at which vacancies appear, a sign of how stable businesses feel. When lots of jobs are up for grabs, it tends to be a sign that companies are confident and ready to hire more people. When openings start to dry up, it usually means they're getting cautious. If vacancies are rising while unemployment is low, workers have more choice and bargaining power as demand is high relative to supply. But when available job offers fall, it's often the first hint that the labour market is slowing down. Employers generally hit pause on hiring well before they start letting people go, which is why vacancy rates are such an important early clue as to what's coming. And right now, the data shows risks ahead. In first-quarter figures released by the European Commission in June, there was a slight drop in the job vacancy rate, which came in at 2.4% in the eurozone. That's down from 2.5% in the final quarter of 2024. When looking at the yearly change, the drop is more significant, as the rate for the first quarter of 2024 was 2.9%. As seen in the graph below, the COVID-19 pandemic had the most pronounced impact on job vacancies, much more than the 2008-2009 economic crisis. While the market recovered somewhat in 2021 and 2022, vacancy rates are now dropping again. Vacancy rates dropped the most in Germany, Greece, Austria and Sweden, indicating that employers are growing more reluctant, if only marginally, to hire more people. For workers, a falling vacancy rate often means fewer opportunities to change jobs, less leverage to negotiate higher pay, and a longer wait to re-enter the market if they get laid off. If the decline seen at the start of 2025 continues, workers could find themselves in a much tougher bargaining position by the end of the year. Hours worked and overtime Another important indicator is the squeeze on working hours or indicators that show employers are cutting back shifts, a step often taken before moving to layoffs or instituting a hiring freeze. Overtime hours also decrease when employers trim shifts in response to falling demand or input shortages. In the EU, in 2024, people aged 20-64 years worked 36 hours on average per week, including full- and part-time work. This number refers to the hours people worked in their main job in the reference week. Countries with the longest working week were Greece at 39.8 hours, Bulgaria at 39, Poland at 38.9 and Romania at 38.8. By contrast, when it comes to European Union countries, the Netherlands had the shortest working week at 32.1 hours, followed by Austria, Germany and Denmark (all with 33.9 hours). The number of hours worked decreased by 0.3% in both the eurozone and the European Union in the first quarter of 2025, compared with the previous quarter, according to Eurostat. Compared with the same quarter of the previous year, hours worked increased by 0.1% in the eurozone and decreased by 0.2% in the EU. Fewer hours on the job does not just mean more free time. It often means less pay and fewer benefits, especially for hourly workers. If hours continue to shrink, the impact will be felt fastest among lower- and middle-income households already squeezed by increased living costs. Even if employment levels hold steady, underemployment — when workers have a job but can't get the hours they want — can rise. In the first quarter of 2025, 10.9% of the EU's extended labour force was underutilised, amounting to around 23.6 million people. This suggests that the erosion in job quality can run deeper than headline unemployment figures might immediately show. Labour rights Europe's institutional safeguards for workers are deteriorating, which is worrying when considering the economic shocks that could potentially be caused by tariffs in the future. The Labour Rights Index for 2024 flags gaps in legislation based on its assessment of labour protections across the world. It evaluates aspects like freedom of association, employment security and family responsibilities through a 0–100 scoring system. In Europe, countries such as Norway, Sweden, Finland, France and Italy score 94, while countries such as Germany and the UK score 88.5 and 88 respectively. While many EU countries score highly on paper, the index highlights persistent legislative gaps in areas such as protection against unfair dismissal and equal treatment for non-standard workers. These gaps mean that even in stable economic periods, large groups of workers remain less shielded from sudden job loss or deteriorating conditions. Related Years at work: Which European countries have the longest average working life? UK job vacancies fall at a slower pace while wage growth holds steady Meanwhile, the ITUC Global Rights Index 2025 shows how these legal weaknesses translate into reality, and tracks violations of labour rights such as restrictions on strikes, the formation of unions, and judicial access and protections on a yearly basis. According to ITUC, Europe saw its worst-ever average score in 2025, at 2.78, compared to 2.73 in 2024 and 2.56 in 2023. "Europe continued a rapid deterioration from 1.84 in 2014 — the biggest decline seen in any region worldwide over the past 10 years," the ITUC report highlights. According to the ITUC index, "nearly three-quarters of European countries violated the right to strike and almost a third of them arrested or detained workers. More than half were denied or restricted access to justice — a sharp increase from 32% in 2024." What does this mean? The economic signals of a slowing labour market — falling vacancy rates, shrinking working hours, and rising underemployment — suggest that workers may have less power to protect themselves just as their jobs and incomes come under strain. In other words, tariffs and other trade shocks could land much harder in 2025, not simply because the economy is cooling, but because the institutional defences that once helped workers weather downturns are eroding at the same time. With early warning signs already visible, the next few quarters will reveal whether these shifts are temporary tremors or the start of a deeper downturn for Europe's workforce. If the combination of tariff pressure and eroding rights persists, the cost could be measured not only in lost jobs, but in lasting damage to workers' bargaining power for years to come. Error while retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error while retrieving data
