This paper examines the development of both employment and unemployment between 1991 and 1997. Economic restructuring in Germany took place not only with regard to sectors but, increasingly, with regard to qualifications, and one of the main points of focus in the paper is the different labour market positions of individual qualification groups. It is demonstrated that the employment crisis of the 1990s did not have the same effect for all qualification levels. Those most disadvantaged during this period were workers who had not successfully completed vocational training. Also, those who had s
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This paper examines the development of both employment and unemployment between 1991 and 1997. Economic restructuring in Germany took place not only with regard to sectors but, increasingly, with regard to qualifications, and one of the main points of focus in the paper is the different labour market positions of individual qualification groups. It is demonstrated that the employment crisis of the 1990s did not have the same effect for all qualification levels. Those most disadvantaged during this period were workers who had not successfully completed vocational training. Also, those who had successfully completed vocational training or had passed a course at technical college were affected more and more by employment cuts. Graduates from universities and polytechnics, on the other hand, were 'clear winners'. Clear gender-specific differences also emerge and these are discussed separately for men and for women. Sectoral structural change and its considerable influence on these developments, are discussed. The employment crisis of the 1990s had the greatest effect on the manufacturing sector where many jobs were lost, whereas in the service sector new jobs were created, though only on a small scale. Changes in the distribution of the volume of work are described, along with the extent to which the employment gains of graduates correspond to an increase in 'inadequate' graduate employment. After a decade of reunification, the labour market remains split between eastern and western Germany, indicating that the economic and social transformation process is taking longer than was originally assumed. Accordingly, the current developments for eastern and western Germany are discussed separately. The analyses are based firstly on the unemployment statistics. The microcensus (MC) was used to describe the developments in the field of employment. Not all of the data needed for 1997 was available so the analysis period was divided into two periods: the first, for which all the information was available, is from 1991 to 1995; and the second from 1995 to 1997.
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