Atypische Beschäftigung im Strukturwandel

"Since the 1980s, there have been fears that the so-called standard employment relationship, i.e. full-time, permanent employment subject to social security contributions, is becoming less important in Germany and that employment relationships classified under the generic term "atypical employment" are gaining in importance. The latter usually includes part-time employment subject to social security contributions and marginal part-time employment, fixed-term employment, temporary work and freelance work. Some of these forms of employment have a shorter duration, are accompanied by lower wages and have a lower social protection effect than the standard employment relationship due to lower and shorter contribution payments into the social security systems. Given the strong focus on employment in our social security system, it is important for social and labor market policy to keep an eye on the development of different forms of employment. Against the backdrop of a society in crisis, in which the “normal” is increasingly being questioned, the structure of employment relationships is surprisingly stable. The standard employment relationship is proving to be largely robust, fixed-term contracts are becoming less important, temporary work and freelance work are stable, but at a low level of around two per cent of the workforce. The development of the labour market towards an "employee market" seems to mean that involuntary atypical forms of employment are declining or remaining at a low level from the employees' point of view. Only part-time employment continues to gain in importance. However, as structural and crisis-related upheavals become more likely and economic conditions more unpredictable and volatile, it is necessary to ensure adaptability to cope with these upheavals. Against this background, three objectives can be formulated with regard to atypical forms of employment in order to ensure adaptability: firstly, to increase the volume of work of involuntary part-time and marginal workers; secondly, to strengthen internal flexibility and training within establishments; and thirdly, to create adequate protective mechanisms and framework conditions for forms of employment that were previously less secure. In addition to this research report, two structural tables based on the IAB Establishment Panel 2010 to 2022 on the forms of employment and in more detail on fixed-term employment are available on the IAB website in the "Facts and Figures" section. The tables show how the various forms of employment have developed in relation to economic sector, federal state and establishment size." (Author's abstract, IAB-Doku) ((en))