Early career consequences of temporary employment in Germany and the UK

Abstract

A B S T R AC TThis article investigates the effects of temporary employment at labour market entry on subsequent individual careers, drawing on data from the British Household Panel Study (BHPS) and the German Socio-Economic Panel (GSOEP) from the period 1991 to 2007. The results show that German temporarily employed entrants suffer from higher initial wage penalties and risks of temporary employment cycles but that all differences compared to entrants with permanent contracts diminish after five years. The integration scenario works more effectively in the UK, where disadvantages are less pronounced and employment losses are primarily related to further education. Moreover, these tendencies vary by education groups and gender. Disadvantages of initial temporary employment are weaker for women in Germany, while gender differences in the UK apparently have less impact. Across borders, temporary contracts are associated with greater initial but vanishing wage penalties and temporary employment cycles for tertiary graduates. K E Y WO R D Scomparative study / early career / employment effects / temporary employment / wages

Research on Students' Performance in Higher Education through Sequence Analysis

“…Several studies have investigated the impact of the initial job position (Gebel 2010;Nickell et al 2002) as well as the impact of spending long spells in unemployment at the beginning of the work career (Hammarström and Janlert 2002;Strandh et al 2014). Findings confirm that first negative labour market experiences can have far-reaching negative impact on labour market opportunities but also several aspects of life (Cable et al 2008;Schmelzer 2011;Weish and Lewis 1998).…”

“…In particular, transitions from temporary contracts into permanent contracts and their effects on the younger generations have found an increasing interest and stimulated prolific research (Scherer 2004;Gebel 2010;Ortiz 2010). Moreover, the crisis of the last few years has brought the challenge of youth employment again high on the agenda as the crisis has exacerbated the risk of downwards transitions or getting trapped into unemployment or inactivity for the younger generation (European Commission 2014;O'Reilly et al 2015).…”

¿Es la precariedad igual para todos los trabajadores temporales? Diferencias y semejanzas entre clases sociales

“…Baranowska et al (2011) señalan que ni la formación profesional ni la educación terciaria aumentan la probabilidad de acceder a posiciones seguras en el mercado laboral polaco. Gebel (2010), con datos para Alemania y el Reino Unido, encuentra que la temporalidad tiene efectos heterogéneos en función de algunas variables sociodemográficas, tales como el género o la educación, por lo que enfatiza la necesidad de que análisis futuros se centren en las consecuencias de entrar en un trabajo temporal para subgrupos aún más diferenciados.…”

Fixed-Term Jobs after Vocational Education and Training in Switzerland: Stepping Stone or Impediment?

“…In both the UK and Germany, temporary jobs have been found to lead to an increased risk of unemployment, repeat fixed-term work and worse pay (Booth et al 2002;Giesecke and Groß 2003;Giesecke and Groß 2004), with wage penalties already extending to initial wages (see Gebel 2009;Gebel 2010). Moreover, fixed-term employees have been found to be less satisfied with their jobs with regards to job security and promotion prospects as well as to receive less workrelated training (Booth et al 2002;Wilkens and Leber 2003).…”

“…In line with the integration scenario, McGinnity et al (2005) find that the unemployment rates of those who start their occupational career on a temporary contract converge after five years with those who started their career on a permanent job in Germany. Furthermore, fixed-term jobs have been found not to hinder upward mobility in terms of occupational prestige (see Scherer 2004), and initial wage differentials vanish over time (see Gebel 2010). As screening via fixed-term entry jobs may particularly apply to academically educated entrants who first need to prove their performance on the job, it may be questionable whether the integration scenario also applies to VET graduates (see e. g., Gebel 2010).…”