Qualifikationsspezifische Übergänge aus befristeter Beschäftigung am Erwerbsanfang

Abstract

"The article examines early career consequences of fixed-term employment, using large-scale retrospective survey data (NEPS) on a sample of young labour market entrants with fixed-term contracts in their first jobs. An event history analysis shows that the individual chances of making a transition to permanent employment are related to workers' qualifications. The data allows for a differentiation between transitions to permanent jobs within the same firm and transitions involving a change of employer. Fixed-term contracts are more likely to serve as 'stepping stones' into permanent jobs for workers who completed vocational training or higher education than for those without formal qualifications. Thus, while fixed-term jobs are often used as an extended probation period to screen the performance of university graduates in high-skilled jobs, their main function in the low-skilled secondary labour market is to maximize numeric flexibility. The study illustrates that standardized vocational qualifications contribute to a smooth school-to-work transition: Among vocationally trained workers fixed-term contracts are more likely to be converted into permanent ones by their first employers than among university graduates, whose transitions more often involve changes of employers. Besides, the latter are more likely to take up further fixed-term jobs subsequent to their first jobs." (Author's abstract, IAB-Doku) ((en))

Cite article

Schmelzer, P., Gundert, S. & Hohendanner, C. (2015): Qualifikationsspezifische Übergänge aus befristeter Beschäftigung am Erwerbsanfang. Zwischen Screening und Flexibilisierung. In: Kölner Zeitschrift für Soziologie und Sozialpsychologie, Vol. 67, No. 2, p. 243-267. DOI:10.1007/s11577-015-0305-x