risk of deterioration
When a job change can take revenge
6/6/2023 7:43 am
A new start at a job with similar activities can bring in almost 300 euros more per month. Skilled workers and specialists in particular have good opportunities. However, caution is advised for jobs that do not require professional training.
According to an analysis, a job change can mean relegation, especially for employees with low qualifications and in helping jobs. This is the result of a study by the Bertelsmann Foundation on career changes and the consequences for those affected. A new professional start pays off above all when employees switch to related activities.
“The increase in wages can then be up to 3,500 euros gross per year higher than when switching to unrelated professions,” it said. “The more knowledge from the old job can also be used in the new job, the greater the chance of a successful job change.” This primarily benefited skilled workers and specialists.
The analysis sees helpers in particular as disadvantaged. These employees in particular changed jobs twice as often as skilled workers and often ended up in unfamiliar jobs – “mostly without any chance of advancement and the prospect of better pay”. As for the definition of “helper,” Roman Wink explained that it describes the level at which a person is employed. This job does not require any professional training. In many cases, these are low-skilled, i.e. people without a professional qualification.
women are often worse off
But people with professional qualifications could also be employed as helpers. Employees who work as helpers have to be more oriented towards the demands of the labor market when “job hopping” than according to their existing skills – and therefore have to be retrained again and again. Women are often worse off when changing jobs.
Tobias Ortmann, the foundation’s labor market expert, emphasized that higher labor force participation is a decisive factor in the fight against the shortage of skilled workers. If the change is successful, it would also be a win for the employer.
The study highlighted that, in most cases, the low-skilled and helpers have usable skills, even if these are not formally supported by certificates. Therefore, procedures are needed to make the skills visible, demanded Wink.