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8 - Job Attitudes and Job Aspirations in a Changing Labor Market: Germany, 1991–2006

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  22 December 2009

By
Christian Ebner  and
Jutta Allmendinger
Edited by
Ingrid Schoon  and
Rainer K. Silbereisen
Ingrid Schoon
Affiliation:
Institute of Education, University of London
Rainer K. Silbereisen
Affiliation:
Friedrich-Schiller-Universität, Jena, Germany
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Summary

The perception and importance of work have undergone changes throughout history and have varied among societies. The ancient Greeks and Romans saw work as something to be avoided or, at least, minimized for themselves, for they associated it with slavery (Grint, 1991). With Christianity and the New Testament, work acquired a different status. Physical work became increasingly respected (Oexle, 2000). For Protestants, especially Calvinists, success in working life and accumulation of a fortune in one's lifetime was a sign of having been chosen by God. Weber (1988) saw the Protestant Work Ethic as the basis of modern capitalism.

From today's perspective, it is difficult to say what the underlying mechanisms of changing work values have been. In modern times, however, work is clearly seen as something desirable. Studies indicate that most people would continue working even if they win or inherit enough money to live a comfortable life (Harpaz, 1989). According to the latest results of the European Values Study, the proportion of Europeans who consider work unimportant is less than 10 percent – a small minority (Halman, Luijkx, & van Zundert, 2005, p. 46). More than half of all Germans consider work to be very important.

At the same time, the situation in the German labor market has changed dramatically since 1991 for young and older people, with unemployment rates, “marginal” part-time work, and fixed-term employment on the rise. Jobs have become increasingly insecure.

Type
Chapter
Information
Transitions from School to Work
Globalization, Individualization, and Patterns of Diversity
 , pp. 165 - 192
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2009

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