Job Security, Labour Law Reforms, and Youth Unemployment: Flexicurity’s Role in Shaping Turkey’s Future Workforce

This paper investigates how flexicurity—combining full social security with labour market flexibility—might be able to help Turkey with its particular labour market issues. A concept that originated in Denmark and was incorporated into the EU's 1997 European Employment Strategy, flexicurity aims to strike a balance between worker protection and enterprise flexibility. Flexicurity in the EU has demonstrated the potential to address structural unemployment and low workforce participation. To use this model in Turkey, nevertheless, one must modify it to fit the unique economic and demographic conditions of the nation. High rates of youth unemployment, poor labour force participation, particularly among women, and restricted job mobility are all problems in Turkey. An inclusive workforce could be promoted in Turkey by implementing customised flexicurity concepts, such as active labour market policies and improved employment security. It explores how Turkey can use flexicurity to advance economic equity and growth by drawing on Dual Labour Market Theory, which makes a distinction between primary (stable) and secondary (unstable) employment sectors; Human Capital Theory, which emphasises the importance of education in economic outcomes; and Historical-Institutional Theory, which focusses on the role of labour market policies. Using a difference-in-differences approach, we examine the effects of graded security contracts on job mobility and stability in Turkey's recent employment reforms. An adjusted flexicurity strategy that prioritises job security, income stability, and better job transitions may improve the resilience and inclusivity of Turkey's labour market, according to the findings. With this model, Turkey can accomplish its long-term economic modernisation objectives as well as its current employment demands by paving the road for a more equal and competitive labour market.