Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: https://hdl.handle.net/10419/330700 
Authors: 
Year of Publication: 
2025
Citation: 
[Journal:] DIW Weekly Report [ISSN:] 2568-7697 [Volume:] 15 [Issue:] 42/43 [Year:] 2025 [Pages:] 287-295
Publisher: 
Deutsches Institut für Wirtschaftsforschung (DIW), Berlin
Abstract: 
The German labor market has undergone profound changes over the last decades. For a long time, the debate on structural change focused on the shift from manufacturing industries to services. This Weekly Report highlights that labor market changes are attributable to three developments: In addition to structural change, i.e., sectoral shifts, key drivers are an occupational shift toward service-related activities (known as servitization) and the increasing demand for higher-skilled workers (known as skill-biased change). Based on administrative data for the years 1975 to 2017, it can be shown that only about two-thirds of the decline in employment in the manufacturing sector can be attributed to traditional structural change. A significant proportion is attributable to servitization and skill-biased change. Further, to capture labor market changes, a sectoral analysis alone is not enough. Concrete job profiles and skills, especially analytical and interactive abilities, are crucial. Labor market and continuing education policies should therefore have a greater orientation towards job profiles and regional conditions to accompany the transformation in a socially acceptable manner.
Subjects: 
employment growth
employment structure
structural change
skill-biased change
servitization
labor demand
Germany
JEL: 
J01
J11
J21
J23
E24
Persistent Identifier of the first edition: 
Document Type: 
Article

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