VOCATIONAL TRAINING AND THE TRANSITION TO THE FIRST JOB IN GERMANY

Abstract

The German institutional setting of skill formation is supposed to enable young people smooth and structured transitions into the labor market. For decades, the large majority of graduates of the "dual system" of vocational education experienced good chances to immediately access appropriate job positions. However, labor market entry has become less stable in the last two decades. In this paper, we examine the changing transition from vocational training to the first job in Germany. We analyze the consequences of inter-firm mobility and unemployment after finishing vocational education for the transition to the first job. Our results show that leaving the training firm, and especially unemployment, strongly enhance occupational shifts at labor market entry. In addition, not keeping one's trained occupation negatively affects the chances to enter skilled job positions. © 2003 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.

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Funding & Acknowledgements

International Association of Bryologists, IAB

This paper is based on work I conducted while engaged in the research project [“Spaltung oder Exklusion?”] “Division or Exclusion?” at the Institute of Sociology, University of Rostock. The project was carried out in cooperation with the IAB, Nuremberg, and funded by the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) from 1997 to 1999. Previous versions of the paper were presented at the Conference “Advances in Life Course Research,” Max Planck Institute for Human Development, Ringberg Castle, Tegernsee, Germany, April 2000, and at the 5th European Sociological Association Conference, Helsinki, Finland, August 2001. I would like to thank the editor of this volume and an anonymous reviewer for helpful comments on an earlier version of this paper. I am also very much indebted to Linda Ellen Teslik for having improved the English.

Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft, DFG

This paper is based on work I conducted while engaged in the research project [“Spaltung oder Exklusion?”] “Division or Exclusion?” at the Institute of Sociology, University of Rostock. The project was carried out in cooperation with the IAB, Nuremberg, and funded by the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) from 1997 to 1999. Previous versions of the paper were presented at the Conference “Advances in Life Course Research,” Max Planck Institute for Human Development, Ringberg Castle, Tegernsee, Germany, April 2000, and at the 5th European Sociological Association Conference, Helsinki, Finland, August 2001. I would like to thank the editor of this volume and an anonymous reviewer for helpful comments on an earlier version of this paper. I am also very much indebted to Linda Ellen Teslik for having improved the English.

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VOCATIONAL TRAINING AND THE TRANSITION TO THE FIRST JOB IN GERMANY - NEW RISKS AT LABOR MARKET ENTRY?

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