Minority employment patterns in the 1990s Germany

Erdem, Esra (2000) Minority employment patterns in the 1990s Germany. In: UNSPECIFIED, Corfu, Greece.

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Abstract

[Introduction]. This paper explores the ethnic dimension of structural change, i.e. the shift towards service sector employment in Germany. To some extent structural change in OECD countries is a reflection of differences in relative productivity growth rates, and should thus be regarded as a sign of successful economic development (Rowthorn and Ramaswamy(1997)). On the other hand, it can be associated with the reorganisation and ‘casualisation’ of the work process, and the generation of a large number of low skill jobs, in which minorities are more likely to be found for a variety of reasons. As Sassen puts it in her analysis of the urban US economy: [N]ew employment regimes are becoming apparent in these services-dominated urban economies which create low-wage jobs and do not require particularly high levels of education. This paper examines whether a process similar to the one described by Sassen applies to either Southern European minority, or ethnic German immigrant employment in services in Germany. Using data from the German Socio-economic Panel (GSOEP), we analyse (1) the impact of the shift towards service employment on minority employment patterns, (2) the employment patterns of ethnic German immigrants who settled in Germany in the 1990s.

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