As the Eurozone Crisis has progressed and countries have continued to struggle to devalue their currencies, with the goal of making exports less expensive for importing markets, many countries are now of dismantling workplace protections to reduce labor costs. In , the 1.9 million workers that were protected by collective bargaining agreements have now diminished to merely 300,000, while has agreed to ease restrictions on collective layoffs and unfair dismissal. The motive for these actions, as encouraged by the , European Commission, and the International Monetary Fund, is to restore competitiveness, increase employment, and recover solvency.