Non-Standard Employment Across Occupations in Germany: The Role of Replaceability and Labour Market Flexibility

34 Pages Posted: 26 Oct 2013

See all articles by Werner Eichhorst

Werner Eichhorst

Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA)

Paul Marx

IZA Institute of Labor Economics

Verena Tobsch

Helmut-Schmidt-University, Institute for HRM and International Management

Abstract

The share of non-standard jobs in total employment has increased in Germany over recent decades. Research tends to attribute this in particular to labour market re-forms and socio-economic change. However, it becomes clear upon closer inspection that macro trends alone cannot provide satisfactory explanations. A striking yet rarely acknowledged aspect of the development in Germany is a large occupational heterogeneity, which is true for both current working conditions and trajectories of change. A process of asymmetric change has been witnessed in recent years, increasing the gap between occupational groups. Given this process, it seems increasingly questionable to aggregate data at the national level. Therefore, this paper analyses the role of different types of non-standard employment across occupations in Germany, explaining variation between occupations with reference to institutional conditions, industrial relations and patterns of labour supply and demand, in particular skill requirements.

Keywords: service sector, part-time work, low pay, fixed-term contracts, non-standard employment, manufacturing, Germany

JEL Classification: J24, J21, J41

Suggested Citation

Eichhorst, Werner and Marx, Paul and Tobsch, Verena, Non-Standard Employment Across Occupations in Germany: The Role of Replaceability and Labour Market Flexibility. IZA Discussion Paper No. 7662, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=2345578 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.2345578

Werner Eichhorst (Contact Author)

Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA) ( email )

P.O. Box 7240
Bonn, D-53072
Germany

Paul Marx

IZA Institute of Labor Economics ( email )

P.O. Box 7240
Bonn, D-53072
Germany

Verena Tobsch

Helmut-Schmidt-University, Institute for HRM and International Management ( email )

Holstenhofweg 85
Hamburg, 22043
Germany

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