New forms of employment shaping the labour market trend
WIESBADEN – As reported by the Federal Statistical Office (Destatis) at a press briefing in Frankfurt/Main today, the increase in new forms of employment has had a major impact on the employment trend in Germanyover the last ten years. Such new forms of employment, frequently referred to as atypical, include fixed-term employment, minor employment, part-time employment and temporary work. While the number of persons in so-called “normal” employment was down by 1.5 million from 1997 to 2007, the number of persons in new forms of employment or in atypical employment rose by 2.6 million over the same period. The number of all employees increased by 1.1 million. Wolfgang Strohm, Head of the Department “National and Environmental Accounts, Labour Market” of the Federal Statistical Office, further reported that, despite that development, “normal” employment is still the dominant form of dependent employment. Just under three quarters (22.5 million) of the 30.2 million employees aged 15 to 64 years who were not undergoing education or training were in normal employment in 2007, while 7.7 million people were in new forms of employment. During the last ten years, the importance of normal employment has decreased, though not markedly. In 1997, the share of persons in normal employment in all employees was 82.5%. Since then, that share has decreased by eight percentage points (2007: 74.5%). Accordingly, the share of persons in new forms of employment has increased from 17.5% to 25.5%. Normal employment here refers to employment performed full-time and on a permanent contractual basis. A normal employee works direct in the enterprise with which he has concluded an employment contract. This is not the case for temporary workers, who are hired out by their employer – the temporary work agency – to other enterprises. Also, in normal employment, employees are integrated in the social security systems such as unemployment insurance, pension insurance and health insurance. This means that, through the contributions paid from their earned income, they acquire claims to benefits from those insurances. The term “new forms of employment” or “atypical employment” is used when one or more of the above criteria are not met. Atypical employment in this study includes part-time employment with 20 or fewer hours of work per week, minor employment, fixed-term employment and temporary work, also referred to as hiring out. While normal employment generally is aimed at financing one’s own livelihood, and possibly that of one’s dependants, new forms of employment or atypical employment can meet that purpose only in part. However, it cannot automatically be equated to precarious employment because new forms of employment or atypical employment is not necessarily precarious, depending on the individual working life and the household context in which the atypically employed person lives. It may happen that someone deliberately chooses new forms of employment or atypical employment, for example, because it allows that person to better combine occupational and other personal interests. This study is limited to the group of employees at working age of 15 to 64 years unless they undergo education or training. That group is in a phase of life where gainful activity is much more strongly considered as a focus of shaping one’s life than is the case, for example, in the education or retirement phases. Also, only a person’s main job is examined. Further comprehensive data and information on this topic are available on the Destatis web site.
For further information please contact: Katharina Puch, tel: (+49-611) 75-4106,
