Low-skilled jobs as a starting point of a community employment policy for the integration of disadvantaged people

Abstract

"On the instructions of the Aachen district council, the Institute of German Economy looked into the question as to why a steady loss of jobs for low qualified people has developed in the Aachen region and what can be done against this at a local level. The research programme consisted of an analysis of the region using secondary statistics, as well as an establishment survey, ergonomic case studies of companies, and intensive interviews with possible target groups of a policy for low qualified people. On the basis of the report, recommendations were made for the structuring of an employment policy at local level aimed at improving the reintegration of low qualified people into the labour market. The main results were: The majority of the present activities in the primary labour market and in particular in industry are now only formally and functionally low-skilled jobs. These activities have developed into skilled jobs as a result of further elements of activity being added to the existing ones and through clearly higher requirements regarding qualifications outside the field as well as core skills. Although low-skilled work does still exist, it is more and more rarely combined into jobs for low qualified people. Low-skilled activities are therefore under pressure from two sources - from rationalisation as well as from work enrichment. Many low qualified people are unable to stand up to this thrust towards professionalisation. In particular in the industrial sector this process is so advanced that it appears to be irreversible. The labour market pressure on low qualified people is the consequence of increased qualifi-cation demands in a labour market situation which companies already feel to be difficult. The companies do not see the direct collectively agreed wage costs as the main stress factor in the demand for labour but more the entire set of wage costs consisting of taxes, social security contributions and settlements. These factors have had a particularly negative effect for people with limited capacity to work and a lack of qualifications in cases when personal characteristics have increased the employment risk too considerably from the point of view of the companies. Without combating the basic general economic conditions for more employment, which are seen as negative, the prospects of success for a local-level initiative for more low-skilled jobs are very limited. Without 'extending' the labour market with additional jobs, the problem of a lack of low-skilled jobs cannot be solved. Additional employment potential can be seen above all in the service sector. For the region studied a gap in the service sector of some 30,000 jobs can be deduced. But employment does not arise automatically in services since the number of jobs has grown only in company departments with high qualification requirements. In some low qualified services on the other hand, unemployment has increased sharply. An employment policy initiative to increase the number of low-skilled activities in the service sector must therefore take into consideration an intensification of work and enlargement of tasks. The most important source of financing for local-level employment activities is the activation of social assistance, an increasing part of which has to be paid out due to unemployment. All pilot projects of local-level employment policy are therefore to be financed in part by redirecting social assistance funds. In addition to this the Employment Promotion Act and the Federal Social Assistance Act should be better interlinked than has previously been the case. In particular the target group of low qualified people provides ample cause and opportunity for this. The activation of social assistance for employment policy could be realised using the following approaches: local government wage subsidies; topping up income from employment; reduced deduction of income from employment in calculating social assistance; hiring out of temporary workers; service agencies; service cheques; integration contracts; setting up of small enterprises; consultancy agencies." (Author's abstract, IAB-Doku) ((en))

Cite article

Falk, R. & Klös, H. (1997): Einfacharbeitsplätze als Ansatzpunkte einer kommunalen Beschäftigungspolitik zur Integration von Benachteiligten. In: Mitteilungen aus der Arbeitsmarkt- und Berufsforschung, Vol. 30, No. 2, p. 412-423.