„Einfacharbeit“ im Dienstleistungssektor / “Low-level jobs” in the Service sector

Bosch Gerhard () and Claudia Weinkopf
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Bosch Gerhard: Institut Arbeit und Qualifikation – IAQ der Universität Duisburg-Essen, Forsthausweg 2, D-47057 Duisburg

Arbeit, 2011, vol. 20, issue 3, 173-187

Abstract: The share of low-level jobs in the service sector is lower than in manufacturing industry. However, the service sector’s high share of total employment means that around three quarters of all lowlevel jobs in Germany are in the service sector. Case studies of recruitment processes in 24 service companies show that the requirements made of workers in low-level service jobs have increased due to technical networking, increasing customer contact and, in some cases, peripatetic working on customers’ premises. Besides a good general education, a pleasant appearance and the social or ‘soft’ skills that enhance employability are required. Individuals with vocational qualifications are increasingly being recruited for these jobs. The results suggest that low-level work should be clearly identified as a separate category in segmentation theory. A distinction should be made between low-level activities with little linguistic content and more complex, communication-intensive activities.

Keywords: low-level jobs; service sector; requirements; segmentation theory; Einfacharbeitsplätze; Dienstleistungssektor; Anforderungen; Segmentationstheorie; low-level jobs; service sector; requirements; segmentation theory (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2011
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:bpj:arbeit:v:20:y:2011:i:3:p:173-187:n:4

DOI: 10.1515/arbeit-2011-0304

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