Bottom Line: the workforce of today is specialized and highly virtual: working part-time, mobile, from home, and often on a contract basis.

FORBES: Enter the Virtual Workforce. TaskRabbit and Gigwalk

Their concerns were echoed by Labour MEP Stephen Hughes, who said "we have one of the longest sets of working time, just behind Bulgaria and Romania, and we are languishing at the bottom of the table of productivity".

BBC: EU in tough talks on working week