
Occupational Change in Europe
How Technology and Education Transform the Job Structure
Daniel Oesch(Author)
Oxford University Press
Published on 19. September 2013
Book
Hardback
194 pages
978-0-19-968096-2 (ISBN)
Description
What types of jobs are growing: well-paid managerial jobs or low-paid auxiliary jobs, high-end professional jobs or bottom-end service jobs? Can occupational change transform affluent countries into enlarged middle-class societies? Or, on the contrary, are we heading towards a future of increasingly divided class societies? Do changes in the employment structure allow forthcoming generations to move towards more rewarding jobs than those held by their parents - or is downward mobility the more likely outcome?
This book throws new light on these timely questions by drawing on extensive evidence of employment data on the pattern of occupational change in Britain, Denmark, Germany, Spain, and Switzerland since 1990. It documents the change in the employment structure, and examines the five underlying driving forces: technology, globalization, education, migration, and institutions. The book discusses whether governments really have no other choice than either occupational upgrading with soaring unemployment or full employment with expanding low-end jobs. The book gives a clear picture of the future of work, skills, and employment in today's Europe, contributing to the debate in economic sociology and labour economics.
This book throws new light on these timely questions by drawing on extensive evidence of employment data on the pattern of occupational change in Britain, Denmark, Germany, Spain, and Switzerland since 1990. It documents the change in the employment structure, and examines the five underlying driving forces: technology, globalization, education, migration, and institutions. The book discusses whether governments really have no other choice than either occupational upgrading with soaring unemployment or full employment with expanding low-end jobs. The book gives a clear picture of the future of work, skills, and employment in today's Europe, contributing to the debate in economic sociology and labour economics.
Reviews / Votes
This thoughtful book considers the reasons why the distribution of jobs, from the highest paid to the lowest, changed over the past 20 years in five European countries, including Britain and Germany. * CHOICE *More details
Language
English
Place of publication
Oxford
United Kingdom
Target group
College/higher education
Professional and scholarly
Dimensions
Height: 222 mm
Width: 145 mm
Thickness: 14 mm
Weight
382 gr
ISBN-13
978-0-19-968096-2 (9780199680962)
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Schweitzer Classification
Other editions
Additional editions

E-Book
09/2013
1st Edition
OUP eBook
€94.99
Available for download
Person
Daniel Oesch is a professor at the Life Course and Inequality Research Centre (LINES) at the University of Lausanne in Switzerland. He lectures on labour market policy, social stratification, and industrial relations. He studied at the Universities of Geneva, Lisbon, and Florence, and earned his PhD from the University of Zurich. Alongside his academic work, Oesch had served for six years as national secretary of the Swiss Federation of Trade Unions in Berne. He is the author of Redrawing the Class Map (2006, Palgrave Macmillan).
Author
Professor at the Life Course and Inequality Research Centre, University of Lausanne
Content
Introduction ; 1. The Debate in the Literature on Occupational Change ; 2. Occupational Upgrading in Europe since 1990 ; 3. Demand-Side Influences on Occupational Change: Trade and Technology ; 4. Supply-Side Influences on Occupational Change: Education and Migration ; 5. The Role of Institutions: Wage-Setting and Occupational Change ; 6. Upgrading at the Cost of Unemployment? ; Conclusion