In France at least, attempts to liberalise labor laws tend to cause riots. I don't know about Spain or Italy but they have famously sclerotic labor markets that

In France at least, attempts to liberalise labor laws tend to cause riots. I don't know about Spain or Italy but they have famously sclerotic labor markets that never seem to get reformed. It's just not a priority of the voters. Not sure what's going on with more liberalised countries like the Netherlands, but consider the massive influxes of people from continental Europe to the UK, which has relatively relaxed labor laws, and that may have something to do with it. Also, note that most of the people the article covers don't have any skills worth talking about. They studied art history, social analysis, hotel management and things like that. Such people would find it hard to find a committed employer even in better times. The first example is a doctor, but she suffers from a double whammy of regulation: not only labor laws but also licensing that makes it hard for her to even relocate to a better run country.