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This article examines post-study work rights (PSWR) policy in three major international higher education destinations -- Australia, Germany and Canada -- through a comparative case study approach. The study found that PSWR policies typically have several objectives: to attract more international students; fill labour shortages; internationalise higher education, retain highly skilled migrants, and to improve outcomes for international graduates. Although some of these objectives appear to have been realised in each of the three countries, it remains unclear whether such policies have improved outcomes for international graduates.

This article investigates the role of 'voice', technology, innovation (of products, services, or processes) and labor shortages in the training participation of low skilled workers in German companies. By building on the key findings of previous research, hypotheses on drivers of training participation are derived from filter theory and the concept of social embeddedness. Regression and cluster analysis based on the German IAB Establishment Panel (wave 2011) show evidence that training participation is shaped by 'voice'-related institutional company characteristics such as employee representation or formalized HR practices. Both characteristics often cluster together. Regression analyses confirm that companies in this cluster train a higher share of their low-skilled workforce. The share is particularly high when companies in this cluster face labor shortages. Apart from that, advanced technology and recent innovations at the company level are not related to higher rates of training participation among low skilled workers.

Highlights cross-national differences in school-to-work systems in Germany, the Netherlands, England, Wales, and the United States. Suggests that the root of many transition problems is the disconnections and tensions between the vocational education and training system and the labor market. (SK)

Purpose: Various health systems are challenged by a multifaceted crisis of increased service demand and workforce shortages. The effects are devastating and may end up in decreased access to care, poor quality of patient care and extreme demands on the workforce. The introduction of the physician assistant (PA) profession provided an avenue to address such challenges in several countries. In Germany, the integration of PAs has been proceeding slowly. Design/methodology/approach: To understand the integration of the profession in Germany, we conducted 15 expert interviews to reveal how the PA profession is perceived among healthcare experts as well as the barriers and facilitators of integration in inpatient care. Findings: Our results highlight a generally positive perception of PAs, particularly in terms of workload relief and bridging the gap between healthcare professionals. Nonetheless, barriers include resistance from healthcare workers unfamiliar with the PA role, while workforce shortages and collaborative teamwork facilitate integration. Originality/value: These findings lay the groundwork for potential integration-enhancing strategies in Germany. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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The extension of late working life has been proposed as a potential remedy for the challenges of aging societies. For Germany, surprisingly little is known about trends and social inequalities in the length of late working life. We use data from the German Microcensus to estimate working life expectancy from age 55 onward for the 1941-1955 birth cohorts. We adjust our calculations of working life expectancy for working hours and present results for western and eastern Germany by gender, education, and occupation. While working life expectancy has increased across cohorts, we find strong regional and socioeconomic disparities. Decomposition analyses show that among males, socioeconomic differences are predominantly driven by variation in employment rates; among women, variation in both employment rates and working hours are highly relevant. Older eastern German women have longer working lives than older western German women, which is likely attributable to the German Democratic Republic legacy of high female employment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Migration to Germany has been a fact of life for the average German since the 1960s. Immigrants started arriving from countries like Turkey, Spain, Greece, or Italy as a post-war labor force was invited to Germany to address workforce shortages. Many of these immigrants ultimately brought their families to live in Germany. One group of these newcomers was Aramean families of Syriac Orthodox faith, forced to flee the Tur Abdin region in southeast Turkey via Syria, Lebanon, and Northern Iraq. This paper will discuss the background and impetus for moving to the West for this immigrant group in detail. It will review the impacts on the life of devout Syriac Orthodox families while living in Germany, a secular country. It will also take an initial look at whether evangelical communities in Germany can come alongside this group, still suffering from a different kind of persecution: the "otherness" of living in Germany. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: The contribution of physician assistants (PAs) to the German healthcare workforce has increased significantly since their introduction in 2005. From five training programs, the number has increased to the current 18, with 560 PAs awarded the PA bachelor of science degree as of 2020. Despite the growth, researchers lack systemic and reliable empirical data that provide insight into the German PA educational and professional profile. The German University Association Physician Assistant (DHPA) undertook the first nationwide cross-sectional survey on PAs in Germany to understand the German PA movement. This survey aimed to describe German PAs' entry into the profession and PA educational and job satisfaction. Methods: PA alumni of all universities affiliated with the DHPA and all subscribers of the Facebook online social media platform PA Blog were invited to complete an online questionnaire. Results: Of the 282 PAs who completed the survey, 77% were female and under age 25 years. Almost all (94%) were employed, predominantly as PAs (91%, 241 of 265), although some held other positions. Most worked full time (87%), with some citing child-care needs as reasons for part-time employment (n = 21). Few reported unemployment (1.4%, 4 of 282). Eighty-two percent said they would probably or very likely choose the same course of study again. Most employed participants found the inclusion of frequent rotations between didactic and clinical training in PA programs beneficial. However, a small number of participants (26.8%) agreed that German PA programs' didactic and clinical teaching objectives were well aligned. Conclusions: German PAs have a high level of satisfaction with their profession and report low unemployment. Improvement in the alignment of didactic and clinical educational objectives to improve academic qualifications and satisfaction emerged as an area of research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Forecasts predict a growing shortage of skilled nursing staff in countries worldwide. Nurse migration is already a common strategy used to address nursing workforce needs. Germany, the UK, and Australia are reviewed here as examples of destination countries for nurse migrants. Agreements exist between countries to facilitate nurse migration; however, it is not evident how nurse migrants have contributed to data on which these arrangements are based. We examined existing primary research on nurse migration, including educational needs and initiatives to support policymakers', stakeholders', and health professions educators' decisions on measures for ethical and sustainable nurse migration. We conducted a rapid evidence assessment to review available empirical research data which involved, was developed with, or considered migrant nurses to address the research question: what are the findings of research that directly involves migrant nurses in producing primary research data? A total of 56 papers were included. Four main themes were identified in this research data: Research does not clearly define what is meant by the term migrant nurses; discrimination is often reported by migrant nurses; language and communication competencies are important; and structured integration programs are highly valued by migrant nurses and destination healthcare employers. Migrant nurses continue to experience discrimination and reduced career opportunities and therefore should be included in research about them to better inform policy. Structured integration programs can improve the experience of migrant nurses by providing language support (if necessary), a country-specific bridging program and help with organisational hurdles. Not only researching migrant nurses but making them active partners in research is of great importance for successful, ethical, and sustainable migration policies. A broader evidence base, especially with regard to the views and experiences of migrant nurses and their educational support needs, should be promoted to make future immigration policy more needs-based, sustainable and ethically acceptable. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: The increasing nursing shortages worldwide has focused attention on the need to find more effective ways to recruit and retain nurses. The aim of this study was to gain understanding of factors that keep German nurses in nursing and explore their perceptions of factors that contribute to nurses leaving or staying in the profession. Methods: An explorative qualitative study was undertaken at four different hospitals (two university hospitals and two public hospitals) in Baden-Wuerttemberg, a state in South Germany. Semi-structured face-to-face or telephone interviews were conducted with 21 state-qualified nurses who had graduated from a German nursing program. Each interview was pseudonymized and transcribed. Transcripts were coded according to Qualitative Content Analysis with data structured into themes and subthemes. The study was reported according to the Consolidated Criteria for Reporting Qualitative Studies (COREQ) checklist for qualitative research. Results: Two themes emerged from the analysis and each theme had several subthemes: a) PUSH FACTORS i.e. factors that may push nurses to consider leaving the profession included limited career prospects, generational barriers, poor public image of nursing, and workplace pressures; b) PULL FACTORS i.e. factors that nurses wished for and could keep them in the profession included professional pride, improved remuneration, recognition of nursing, professionalisation, and improving the image of nursing as a profession. Conclusion: The decision to leave or stay in nursing is influenced by a complex range of dynamic push and pull factors. Nurse Managers responsible for stabilizing the workforce and maintaining their health system will continue to have to navigate challenges until working conditions, appropriate wages and career development opportunities are addressed. A key to tackling nursing shortages may be focusing on pull factors and nurse managers listening in particular to the perspectives of junior nurses directly involved in patient care, as giving them opportunity to further develop professionally, reinforcing a strong and supportive workplace relationships, paying an appropriate salary, and improving the public image of nursing profession. Registration number: The study has been prospectively registered (27 June 2019) at the German Clinical Trial Register (DRKS00017465). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article offers a comparative study of recent joint initiatives by Danish and German social partners within the industrial cleaning sector. It examines how, and to what extent, the day-to-day realities of industrial cleaners vary due to distinct regulatory regimes and explores why social dialogue initiatives have not had a greater impact in terms of improving wages, working conditions and social benefits. The authors find that, whilst sector institutions help counteract precariousness for some cleaning workers, the increasingly intense competition within industrial cleaning contributes to increased segmentation as employers seek various loopholes within existing labour market regulation to cut costs. Therefore, the labour force within the cleaning sector is increasingly segmented, with some cleaners ending up in highly precarious situations, whilst others are helped by various joint initiatives by social partners to improve atypical workers' conditions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, we assess the impact of international migration and the induced homecare service labor supply shock on fertility decisions and the labor supply of native females in Germany. Specifically, we consider the individual data of native women from the German Socio-Economic Panel and merge them with data on the share of female immigrants and other regional labor market characteristics. We provide evidence that areas with a high share of female immigrants are more likely to provide a larger amount of services related to household care and lower prices for such services. By controlling for unobserved individual characteristics, we find that an increase at the local level in the share of female immigrants positively affects the probability of having a child, induces women to work longer hours (intensive margin of labor supply) and reduces the number of hours they spend performing family duties (intensive margin of home production). The negative change in household working hours supports the validity of our results. These effects become stronger for (medium-) skilled women. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Following the 'European refugee crisis', European states have initiated different migration and integration policies that often perpetuate and reinforce nation-state otherisation, capitalist exploitation, colonial legacies, and gendered and racialised oppression. Using an interdisciplinary approach based on decolonial theory, world-systems research, Marxist analysis, critical state theory, critical race theory and feminist critiques, this article finds that a rigorous investigation of a complex world-system and its deep structures, including modernity/coloniality, capitalism, the nation-state, racism and sexism, can shed light on the formation of a global mobile labour force that manifests itself in place- and context-specific ways. Based on this assertion, this article analyses processes of migrant integration in Germany's domestic work force and points to its colonial, gendered and racialised dynamics. The article concludes by reviewing Napuli Langa's account of and involvement in the migrant resistance movement in Germany which began in 2012. This resistance movement highlights alternative ways of living together in and against the modern/colonial world-system that goes beyond (neo)liberal inclusionism. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

There is a symmetrical debate in two Euro area core countries: in France about the restrictive fiscal policy of Germany, leading to a huge external surplus, in Germany about the insufficient compliance with fiscal rules and the lack of structural reforms in France. What are the real causes of the divergence between the two economies? We show that different indicators of competitiveness yield very different results depending on the base period used, e.g. 1995 (peak of reunification boom), 1999 or 1990. A comparison with the pre-unification period shows little gain in competitiveness. We also find, somewhat surprisingly, that Germany's industry is not more integrated in international value chains than that of France or Italy. We then look at the link between export growth and export prices and argue that in the long run exports are not driven by competitiveness but by the increased supply of labor resulting from unification. In addition, we ask what drove 'wage moderation' in Germany: policy or the labor market. We finally analyse the longer-term trend in fiscal policy and the resulting distributional consequences in both countries. Our more general policy implication is that any analysis which compares today to the trough of German performance after unification risks over-estimating the potential of the country. Given that the 'internal unification' process is complete now, one should not expect the Germans to continue to outperform France as it has done over the last two decades. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The inheritance tax is often seen as an effective tool to reduce wealth inequality, to raise public revenues if needed, and to increase incentives to work by lowering the tax burden on labour, which is especially high in Germany, according to the OECD. The purpose of this paper is therefore to shed light on the question of whether an inheritance tax is a promising tool for fighting wealth inequality without having distorting effects on the economy. For this purpose, firstly, the distributional effects of inheritances on wealth distribution are evaluated for Germany and are then compared with those in Austria and France, using data from the Household Finance and Consumption Survey (HFCS). A change in the German inheritance tax law in 2009 is further used in a difference-in-difference analysis to identify the behavioural effects of the change in the inheritance tax on the volume of bequests, which are large and robust for different specifications. Secondly, the insight from part one is applied to the design of an inheritance tax reform for Germany. The potential tax revenue of the reform can be estimated by using the data from the inheritance and gift tax statistics. A revenue shift from income to inheritance tax could be used to increase work incentives by cutting the marginal tax rates for the working population. However, it turns out that taxing inheritances will be accompanied by significant behavioural responses of donors via tax planning. Furthermore, the introduction of a flat tax model with a broad tax base would not generate enough additional revenue to foster relevant employment effects. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In January 2015, Germany introduced a federal, statutory minimum wage of 8.50 € per hour. This study evaluates the effects of this policy on regular and marginal employment and on welfare dependency. Based on the county-level administrative data, this study uses the difference-in-differences technique, exploiting regional variation in the bite of the minimum wage, i.e., the county-specific share of employees paid less than 8.50 € before the introduction of the minimum wage. The minimum wage had a considerable negative effect on marginal employment. There is also some indication that regular employment was slightly reduced. Concerning welfare dependency, the minimum wage reduced the number of working welfare recipients, with some indication that about one half of them left welfare receipt due to the minimum wage. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Balancing parenthood and employment can be challenging and distressing, particularly for single mothers. At the same time, transitioning to employment can improve the financial situations of single mothers and provide them with access to social networks, which can have beneficial effects on their health and well-being. Currently, however, it is not well understood whether the overall impact of employment on single mothers is positive or negative, and to what extent it differs from the impact of employment on partnered mothers. Building on the literature on work-family conflict, we investigate the differential effects of employment transitions on the health and well-being of single mothers and partnered mothers. Using longitudinal data from the German Socio-Economic Panel (1992–2016), we apply panel regression techniques that address the potential endogeneity of maternal employment, as well as the dynamic nature of the relationship between employment transitions and maternal health and well-being. We find that employment has a positive impact on single mothers, and that single mothers benefit from employment significantly more than partnered mothers. Surprisingly, income does not appear to be an important driver of these results. Overall, our findings suggest that employment plays a key role in the well-being of single mothers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objectives In Germany, rehabilitative healthcare institutions increasingly rely on migrant physicians to meet their staffing needs. Yet until now, research on the integration of migrant physicians has focussed entirely on the acute care setting. This study is the first to address the specific advantages and challenges to integration in the field of rehabilitative medicine where a high number of migrant physicians work. From the experiences of migrant physicians and their colleagues, we provide actionable suggestions to counteract potential sources of conflict and thereby improve the integration of migrant physicians in the German workforce. Study design We conducted a qualitative interview study. Methods We conducted 23 interviews with a total of 26 participants occupying a variety of roles in two different rehabilitation centres (maximum variation sampling). Interviews were recorded, transcribed verbatim and parsed through thematic analysis. Results Our research revealed advantages and challenges to integration in three distinct areas: rehabilitative care institutions, competencies of migrant professionals and interpersonal relations. The first set of issues hinges on the work processes within rehabilitative hospitals, professional prospects there and the location of the institutions themselves. Second, migrant physicians may encounter difficulties because of limited linguistic skills and country-specific knowledge. And finally, aspects of their interactions with care teams and patients may constitute barriers to integration. Conclusions Some of the factors influencing the integration of migrant physicians are the same in both rehabilitative and acute medicine, but the rehabilitative setting presents distinct advantages and challenges that are worthy of study in their own right. We outline several measures which could help overcome challenges to the integration of migrant physicians, including those associated with professional relationships. Further research is needed to develop concrete support programmes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Using German social security data, we study inter-industry labor mobility to assess how industry-specific human capital is and to determine which industries have similar human capital requirements. We find that inter-industry labor flows are highly concentrated in just a handful of industry pairs. Consequently, labor flows connect industries in a sparse network. We interpret this network as an expression of industries similarities in human capital requirements, or skill relatedness. This skill-relatedness network is stable over time, similar for different types of workers and independent of whether workers switch jobs locally or over larger distances. Moreover, in an application to regional diversification and local industry growth, skill relatedness proves to be more predictive than colocation or value chain relations. To facilitate future research, we make detailed inter-industry relatedness matrices online available. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Literature reports a direct relation between nurses' job satisfaction and their job retention (stickiness). The proper planning and management of the nursing labor market necessitates the understanding of job satisfaction and retention trends. The objectives of the study are to identify trends in, and the interrelation between, the job satisfaction and job stickiness of German nurses in the 1990-2013 period using a flexible specification for job satisfaction that includes different time periods and to also identify the main determinants of nurse job stickiness in Germany and test whether these determinants have changed over the last two decades.Methods: The development of job stickiness in Germany is depicted by a subset of data from the German Socio-Economic Panel (1990-2013), with each survey respondent assigned a unique identifier used to calculate the year-to-year transition probability of remaining in the current position. The changing association between job satisfaction and job stickiness is measured using job satisfaction data and multivariate regressions assessing whether certain job stickiness determinants have changed over the study period.Results: Between 1990 and 2013, the job stickiness of German nurses increased from 83 to 91%, while their job satisfaction underwent a steady and gradual decline, dropping by 7.5%. We attribute this paradoxical result to the changing association between job satisfaction and job stickiness; that is, for a given level of job (dis)satisfaction, nurses show a higher stickiness rate in more recent years than in the past, which might be partially explained by the rise in part-time employment during this period. The main determinants of stickiness, whose importance has not changed in the past two decades, are wages, tenure, personal health, and household structure.Conclusions: The paradoxical relation between job satisfaction and job stickiness in the German nursing context could be explained by historical downsizing trends in hospitals, an East-West German nurse compensation gap, and an increase in the proportion of nurses employed on a part-time basis. A clearer analysis of each of these trends is thus essential for the development of evidence-based policies that enhance the job satisfaction and efficiency of the German nursing workforce. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: European countries, and especially Germany, are currently very much affected by human migration flows, with the result that the task of integration has become a challenge. Only very little empirical evidence on topics such as labor market participation and processes of social integration of migrant subpopulations is available to date from large-scale population surveys. The present paper provides an overview of the representation of the migrant population in the German Programme for the International Assessment of Adult Competencies (PIAAC) sample and evaluates reasons for the under-coverage of this population. Methods: We examine outcome rates and reasons for nonresponse among the migrant population based on sampling frame data, and we also examine para data from the interviewers' contact protocols to evaluate time patterns for the successful contacting of migrants. Results and Conclusions: This is the first time that results of this kind have been presented for a large-scale assessment in educational research. These results are also discussed in the context of future PIAAC cycles. Overall, they confirm the expectations in the literature that factors such as language problems result in lower contact and response rates among migrants. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Rural labour markets for youth are an interesting research area for labour force transition studies because gender differences begin to appear with the out-migration that leads to a shortage of young women in Europe. Whilst existing studies provide insight into this migration flow, little is known about the young women and men who remain in the labour force in rural areas. The aim of this study is to provide insight into the determinants of job access after leaving education in Germany among the young population aged 15–29 based on the Labour Force Survey of 2002–2009. First, an empirical analysis of student to employment flow in rural areas with respect to social position (degree discipline, age, and socio-professional category) has been conducted. Second, gender-specific multinomial logit models are used to estimate the determinants of access to a first job without a long-term unemployment spell. The results suggest that there are substantive differences in student to employment flow between female and male samples for the variables urbanisation degree of residence (rural, urban, and peri-urbain) and marital status. Contrary to our expectations, living in rural areas does not suggest a significant negative effect in accessing a job within a year. In line with previous studies, being married has a negative influence on female graduates but is positive for their male counterparts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article discusses the issue regarding the workforce development in Germany and mentions the government's efforts to train older people who want to work at retirement ages.

Just over a decade ago, an OECDStarting Strongteam reviewed the system of early childhood education and care (ECEC) in Germany. Regarding the staffing of early childhood provision and referring in particular to resistance at the political level to raise the formal qualification level of educators in alignment with European trends, the evaluative report noted in 2004 that the chosen approach may be overlooking the issue of the sustainability. The article explores key discourses and paradigmatic shifts which have shaped early years professionalisation initiatives and workforce developments since this time. One of the most notable changes has been a remarkable growth in the size of the workforce, which has almost doubled over the past eight years. What are the reasons for this fast-paced expansion, and can it be sustained? Have qualification requirements been lowered, and has the composition of the workforce changed? What are current challenges facing the sector? As ECEC provision develops across Europe, other countries face similar issues. Exploring how they are played out in one particular country context may help to stimulate critical analysis in others. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Since the 2002 Barcelona summit, Germany has been seen as a regional leader in achieving European states’ shared commitment to increase state-funded childcare. Yet Germany’s childcare success has not been homogeneous across its Länder; rather, it has shown remarkable subnational variation, with considerable differences in spending, policy design and coverage. Using panel data analysis and historical narratives, this article provides a theory for variation in provision of state-financed childcare for children under three years of age. We argue that competing visions of childcare at the subnational level – driven by the demands of differing numbers of women in the workforce and religious beliefs, and channelled by local government partisanship – have served as powerful constraints on convergence. Left partisanship and increased participation of women in the labour force are associated with higher provision of childcare for those aged under three, while larger Catholic populations are correlated with less extensive state-funded childcare. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

This article explores how institutional differences matter to the quality of a nation’s jobs; job quality is conceived as a dimension of a national economy’s social performance and thus defined in accordance with civic principles. Focus is on the two archetypical varieties of capitalism, the United States and Germany. Using data from a 2009 telephone survey of U.S. and German workers, we find that the overall attainment of civic principles, as perceived by workers, is no different in Germany than in the United States, even though the German institutional environment should be more conducive to them. This is due to higher worker expectations in Germany and a tendency for employer practices to compensate for the weaker (liberal) institutional environment in the United States. Once these are controlled, German workers report substantially more positive outcomes. We find that institutional differences also matter in how various employer practices are adopted and hence have indirect as well as direct implications. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

In this study, we examine the gender differences in formal and informal volunteering using data from a Time Use Survey in Germany. Our study finds strong evidence that women are more likely to volunteer formally if they also volunteer informally, suggesting that the decisions are complementary. However, for men the decisions to volunteer formally and informally are not significantly related. Moreover, we find that gender differences in labour force participation cannot explain our results. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This empirical paper documents the relationship between the composition of a firm's workforce (with a special focus on age and gender) and its performance (productivity and profitability) for a large representative sample of enterprises from manufacturing industries in Germany using newly available, unique data. We find concave age-productivity profiles and a negative correlation of age on firms' profitability. Moreover, our micro-econometric analysis reveals for the first time that the ceteris paribus lower level of productivity in firms with a higher share of female employees does not go hand in hand with a lower level of profitability in these firms. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The authors empirically investigate people's reasons for supplying or using informal labour, on the basis of data obtained from a 2010 survey of German residents. Building on existing research, they find that being unemployed, or having been unemployed in the past, significantly increases the probability of supplying informal labour. In addition, dissatisfaction with one's relative standing in society, and annoyance at government inefficiency, both have a significant positive effect on male informal labour supply. Informal labour demand, however, is not affected by these factors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We investigate to what extent convergence in production levels per worker has been achieved in Germany since unification. To this end, we model the distribution of GDP per employee across German districts using two-component normal mixtures. While in the first year after unification, the two-component distributions were clearly separated and bimodal, corresponding to the East and West German districts, respectively, in the following years they started to merge showing only one mode. Still, using the recently developed EM-test for homogeneity in normal mixtures, the hypothesis of just a single normal component for the whole distribution is clearly rejected for all years. A Posterior analysis shows that about a third of the East German districts were assigned to the richer component in 2006, thus catching up to levels of the West. The growth rate of a mover district is about 1% point higher than the growth rate of a non-mover district which had the same initial level of GDP per employee. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose – In recent years, the number of freelancers has increased considerably, especially in the IT and the media sectors. Additionally, the discussion around employability has intensified because of its relevance for employees in meeting labour market demands. Employability is especially important for freelancers as it has a key influence on their financial success. However, there is a lack of empirical research on the employability of freelancers and the competences associated with it. This article aims to reduce this research gap by presenting findings of an explanatory study on freelancer employability. Design/methodology/approach – The empirical data in this article is based on 23 semi-structured interviews which were conducted with freelancers in the IT and media sectors. Findings – The results reveal that the employability of freelancers is shaped by technical, social and networking competences. Additionally, it is pointed out that the dynamics in the analyzed sectors are distinct and therefore the intensity of competence development and training is varying. Originality/value – The presented study contributes to research on freelancers as it stresses the necessity of employability for success at work. The link between employability and freelancers has not received prior attention in research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose – This paper aims to analyze the welfare use of Turkish immigrants and natives in Germany. The authors ask whether the immigrant-native gap in welfare use can be explained by observable characteristics, whether the mechanisms behind welfare dependence differ for Turkish immigrants and natives, and, finally, they compare the situation before and after the 2005 reform of the German welfare system. Design/methodology/approach – Using data from the German Socio-Economic Panel Study, the authors estimate linear probability models with random effects to investigate the correlates of transfer receipt for Turkish immigrants and natives. Findings – Turkish immigrants have a higher propensity to use welfare benefits than natives. After controlling for general individual and household level characteristics, the difference in welfare receipt is statistically significant only for the group of second generation immigrants. The correlation of observable characteristics with welfare dependence differs significantly for the native and immigrant sample. The share of benefit recipients increased after the policy reform in 2005 for both immigrants and natives. Practical implications – First, as human capital and particularly labor market status are important determinants of welfare use, training programs designed for the special needs of immigrants might support their labor market integration. Second, measures to ameliorate the integration of older people into the labor market might be particularly useful because the need for welfare benefits arises particularly at the 50-60 age range. Originality/value – This is the first study to investigate welfare use of Turkish immigrants after the German 2005 labor market policy reform. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article analyzes how gender mainstreaming is discursively redefined in a neoliberal frame within the European Employment Strategy, and looks at the effect of this on employment practices in Germany. The focus of the article is on new governance tools such as the open method of coordination (OMC) in the European employment strategy and the implementation of gender mainstreaming in Germany. From a theoretical perspective, following studies on governmentality, the European integration process, with its new governance tools like the OMC, can be interpreted in a way that changes our perspective on governance. The European integration process can be analyzed as changing and regulating the mechanisms of governance with technologies such as knowledge and economically oriented political benchmarks which reframe gender policies such as gender mainstreaming in an activating and individualizing strategy. In looking at gender mainstreaming, therefore, the article deals with discourses and governmental programs as technologies of power which steer policies and governance mechanisms towards neoliberal rationalities and practices, thus highlighting the governmental technologies used to consolidate neoliberal policies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Using data from the German case, the paper examines a new form of client firms' utilization of temporary agency work that is distinctly different from traditional forms responding to production problems. Client firms, particularly from manufacturing, increasingly use temporary agency workers as a quasi-permanent component of their workforce. Management's primary aim is to establish a "security net" for the short-termprofits by bypassing German statutory dismissal protection. However, since client firms' regular employees and the temporary agency workers tend to perform the same tasks, a secondary effect of the strategic use of temporary agency work can be observed: the disciplinary effects associated with precarious work are tangibly amplified and expanded. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]