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41/ 2005
Bonn, 28.10.2005
The changing world of work - a development phase for occupations?
The world of work is changing - but what does this mean for occupations and vocational edu-cation and training? New livelihoods, different working demands, the ongoing development of information technology in the employment world, an ever increasing level of requirements and the break-up of clearly defined career paths are examples of some of the trends and fea-tures often described in connection with these changes. To what extent have these develop-ments already become reality and in which occupational fields and branches can they be ob-served? The principal question is, however, what impact will the changes taking place in the current working environment have on our system of vocational education and training, and what will the consequences be for the modernisation of existing and the development of new regulated occupations and for continuing vocational education and training?
In order to be able to address these and other questions relating to occupational and qualifica-tions research, the Federal Institute for Vocational Education and Training (BIBB) is car-rying out a representative survey of 20,000 workers in Germany in conjunction with the Federal Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (FIOSH, German acronym BAUA). This survey is carried out on a telephone, computer-aided basis and includes working people aged 15 and upwards who have gainful employment of at least ten hours a week. 01 The survey is funded by the Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF).
From October 2005 until March 2006, the Munich based social research company TNS In-fratest will contact 20,000 randomly selected 02 workers in Germany by telephone and inter-view them on the following:
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- the main focuses of activity and the knowledge requirements of their work,
- the workplace requirements in their companies,
- the need for continuing training and the attitude towards continuing training,
- the changes which have taken place in their workplace in recent years,
- the working conditions in the workplace,
- the demands of work and health problems in connection with work,
- the level of job satisfaction,
- the school qualifications they have obtained, their vocational education and training and their career history,
- the relationship between training und employment,
- the applicability of occupational qualifications in their current employment.
The results of the survey will be presented anonymously, and any inferences in respect of the actual persons providing the information will not be possible.
The aim of the "BIBB/BAUA Workers' Survey 2005/2006" research project is to gain rep-resentative information with regard to such issues as:
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- which occupational demands are made of workers and how these differ between occupa-tions, branches and levels of qualification,
- in which areas workers perceive a need for the expansion or renewal of knowledge through continuing training,
- which qualification routes lead to the various occupational activities,
- in which employment fields new occupations are being created,
- where the knowledge necessary to carry out the respective activities was acquired,
- how closely - or loosely - occupations and positions are connected to their related training,
- whether - and how - skilled workers who have undergone in-company training achieve different levels of success on the labour market compared to those people trained in a vocational school based environment and
- to what extent occupational knowledge and skills taught during the training process are applicable to everyday work activities.
Further information on the "BIBB/BAUA Workers' Survey 2005/2006" research project is available online under www.bibb.de/arbeit-im-wandel
Information about the above survey is available from the BIBB from Anja Hall, Tel.: 0228/107-1103, e-mail: hall@bibb.de
