Competence, Control, and Work Redesign

Abstract

A tendency toward deskilling and deeper fragmentation of white-collar work emerged in the Federal Republic of Germany during the 1960s and early 1970s, fueling Marxist claims that skilled office and administrative workers faced increasing proletarianization. The authors' research on commercial and technical employees in large industrial enterprises suggests that deskilling tendencies were, in fact, a short-lived, exceptional phenomenon. Since the late 1970s, West German employers have increasingly adopted a skill-based modernization policy that shapes work in terms of high trust relations and responsible autonomy. This outcome is more than an employers' creation, however, for skilled administrative employees have used their occupational qualifications as a means of influencing the process of work redesign. In general, our findings point to nationally specific systems of vocational education as a factor that shapes emerging patterns of work redesign and work culture.

Arbeit, Arbeitsmarkt und Betriebe

“…Resultat ist einerseits Unmut und Frustration, andererseits aber die verzweifelte Hoffnung, daß sich die Lage auf dem Arbeitsmarkt in absehbarer Zeit verbessern werde (Kronauer/Vogel 1995: 158f. Versucht man eine Definition der Dienstleistungsproduktion, so finden sich in der wissenschaftlichen Debatte eine Vielzahl von Ansätzen (vgl. Berger /Offe 1980, Littek/Heisig/Gondek 1991, Häußermann/Siebel 1995, Schettkat 1996. In der ökonomischen Theorie bildet der tertiäre oder Dienstleistungssektor zumeist eine Residualkategorie, in der all jene Wirtschaftszweige versammelt sind, die nicht überwiegend dem primären oder sekundä-ren Sektor zugeordnet werden können.…”