• Institution
    • Leitung
    • Gremien
      • Wissenschaftlicher Beirat
        • Gesamtliste seit 1981
      • Stiftungsrat
      • Mitgliederversammlung
    • Ansprechpartner
    • Das Kolleg
      • Historie
        • Geschichte der Institution
          • Kurze Geschichte des Kollegs
        • Geschichte der Häuser und Gärten
          • Hauptgebäude
            • Exkurs - Der Garten
          • Weiße Villa
          • Neubau
          • Villa Jaffé
          • Villa Walther
        • Geschichte des Signets
      • Finanzierung & Satzungen
        • Satzung der Wissenschaftsstiftung
        • Satzung des Wissenschaftskollegs
      • Förderer & Freundeskreis
    • Initiativen & Kooperationen
      • Working Futures
        • Interviews
          • Gabriel Abend
          • Ève Chiapello
          • Elena Esposito
          • Michel Lallement
          • Sophie Bernard
          • David Stark
          • Richard Swedberg
        • Publications
          • Shifting Categories
          • Wiko Briefs - Working Futures in Corona Times
            • The digital transformation of work. COVID-19 as a taste of things to come?
            • Thinking the Global Rise of Forced Labor: Old, New, and Changing Forms of Labor Exploitation in Times of Crisis
            • Rearticulating globalization, solidarities, and work in Ethiopia
            • The future of shopping - Corona as a catalyst for the transformation of work
            • The End of the Pandemic of Productivism?
            • Covid and Looking for the Exit
            • Who or what is being tested in pandemic times?
            • The Crisis as Beginning of a New Relationship to the Professional World?
            • Controlled Avalanche – A Regulated Voluntary Exposure Approach for Addressing Covid-19
            • Caring about what we hold dear and the final purposes of work
            • How does the Corona crisis affect the future of work and our view of it?
            • "Useful", "indispensable", “essential”: Is the health crisis changing the categories with which we consider professional activities?
            • The Corona Crisis Reveals the Struggle for a Sustainable Digital Future
            • The Need for De-Integration in Pandemic Times
            • The COVID 19 crisis accelerates structural change in the world of work
            • How can we strengthen the contributory logic of work?
        • Events
        • Network
      • Blankensee-Colloquien
      • Anna Krüger Stiftung
      • Some Institutes for Advanced Study (SIAS)
      • Ukraine Fellowships
      • Elkana Fellowships
    • Bibliothek
      • Bestellen & Ausleihen
      • Recherche
        • Zeitschriften
        • Kataloge
        • Fachinformationsdienste
        • Archive
      • Bücher & Musik vor Ort
      • Fragen?
  • Fellows
    • Fellowfinder
    • Fellows 2022/2023
    • Permanent Fellows
      • Frühere Permanent Fellows
    • Alumni
      • Fellowclub
        • Verein
          • Geschichte
        • Mitgliedschaft
        • Newsletter
          • März 2022
            • Editorial
            • Politik, Recht und Wissenschaft in Zeiten der Pandemie
            • Pandemics: The Maths, the Masks, the Madness
            • Roni Taharlev: Der Vorbote von Corona
            • Rachel Wheatley: Berlin mit Maske
            • Grußwort des Vorsitzenden
            • Save the dates – Fellowtreffen 2022
            • Mitgliedschaft im Fellowclub
            • Mitgliedsbeiträge und Spenden
            • Neue Publikationen in der Fellowbibliothek
            • Preise
            • Obituarium
          • Februar 2021
            • Editorial
            • Zwischen Eigenzeit und Interdisziplinarität
            • Sag's durch die Maske!
            • Was war und zu welchem Ende studiert man Trumpismus?
            • Als die Computer laufen lernten
            • Zum Abschied von Sonja Grund
            • Angelika Leuchter
            • Blog-Serie zur Wissenschaftsfreiheit
            • Save the dates – Fellowtreffen 2021 und 2022
            • Neue Publikationen in der Fellowbibliothek
            • Preise
            • Mitgliedschaft im Fellowclub
            • Obituarium
          • März 2020
            • Editorial
            • Verfassung als gewaltlose Revolution
            • Imre Kertész und die europäische Literatur der Gegenwart
            • Es sind die Verluste, welche die Polen umtreiben
            • Das Kolleg und der Osten – das New Europe College in Bukarest
            • Save the date - Fellowtreffen: Biodiversity: Conceptual Challenges in an Era of Rapid Change 11./12.Juni 2020
            • Neue Publikationen in der Fellowbibliothek
            • Preise
            • Mitgliedschaft im Fellowclub
            • Obituarium
          • March 2019
            • Editorial
            • Paintings for the Future
            • Landmark Papers Revisited
            • Working Futures
            • Society Benefits From Our Autonomy
            • Two Million Blossoms in a Jar
            • Save the Date - Meeting of the Fellows' Club: June 13-14, 2019
            • Lectures on Film
            • New Publications in the Fellows' Library
            • Preise
            • Join the Fellows' Club
            • Obituaries
          • März 2018
            • Editorial
            • A Good Bet: Five Years of the College for Life Sciences
            • Lectures on Film: Lisa Herzog
            • Return to Gdańsk
            • Sign the Gdansk Petition
            • Lecture Series: "Recht und Digitalisierung"
            • The Future of the Humboldt Forum: An Epiphany
            • (Almost) A Lifer
            • Late Checkout
            • Save the Date - Fellowtreffen
            • Preise
            • New Publications in the Fellows' Library
            • Obi­tu­a­ri­um
          • March 2017
            • Editorial
            • Luca Giuliani: Facets of Stephen
            • Berliner Abend 2017
            • Michael Jennions: Walking Berlin
            • Nostalgia
            • Prizes
          • June 2016
            • Editorial
            • Daniel M. Weary: Three days at Wiko to imagine a new world
            • Katharina Wiedemann: Travelling Lights
            • William Marx: The Rising of Kaspar Hauser
            • Luc Steels: Grunewaldkirche, Bach, and Passions
            • Nostalgia
          • June 2015
            • Editorial
            • Adam S. Wilkins: Humanities and Natural Sciences
            • Rob Page: The Decline of the Humanities?
            • Alfons Söllner: From "Exilforschung" to "Emigrationsforschung"? A Journey in Memory.
            • Susan Rose-Ackerman and Bruce Ackerman: Wiko Then and Now: 1991-1992 and 2014-2015
            • Daniel Schönpflug: Ins Grüne
          • December 2014
            • Editorial
            • Sebastian Conrad: Global History
            • Sahotra Sarkar, Chris Margules: Biodiversity group at the Kolleg
            • Reinhart Meyer-Kalkus: On Uwe Pörksen: Camelot im Grunewald. Szenen aus dem intellektuellen Leben der achtziger Jahre
            • Meredith Reiches: "Literary studies and biology: The Shakespeare-Workshops at the Kolleg 2012 and 2013"
            • Simon Teuscher: Workshop: Perspectives on Actors in Social History
            • Gebhard Kirchgässner: Workshop “The Economic Model of Human Behaviour”
            • Gerald Wilkinson: Workshop “Mind the Gap: Closing the Gulf between Genomic and Phenotypic Studies of Sexual Selection”
            • Sonja Grund: News from the Fellows’ Club
          • May 2014
            • Editorial
            • Peter Reill: From the Wissenschaftskolleg zu Berlin to Wiko: Reflections on a Return after Twenty-Seven Years
            • Reinhart Meyer-Kalkus:Why artists are needed at research institutions
            • Martin Loughlin: Constitutions beyond the Nation-State
            • Franco Moretti: Invisible objects
            • Stefanie Rentsch: The Forum Transregionale Studien – its Mission and History
          • November 2013
            • Editorial
            • Jim Hunt: Ten Years in the Rearview Mirror
            • Thorsten Wilhelmy: My First Year at the Wissenschaftskolleg
            • Giovanni Frazzetto: The College for Life Sciences at the Wissenschaftskolleg
            • Reinhart Meyer-Kalkus: The Fellow Forum for Former Fellows
      • Fellow Forum
  • Veranstaltungen
    • Veranstaltungskalender
    • Gesprächskonzerte
    • Zur Zeit
    • Observatorium
    • Ernst Mayr Lecture
    • Workshops
    • Three Cultures Forum
  • Wikothek
    • Wiko Shorts
    • Lectures on Film
    • Features
    • Köpfe und Ideen
    • Arbeitsvorhaben
    • Jahrbuch
    • Zeitschrift für Ideengeschichte
  • Fellow werden
    • Fellowships
      • Individuelle Fellowships
        • Voraussetzungen
        • Auswahlkriterien
        • Auswahlverfahren
        • FAQ
        • Bewerbungsplattform
      • Schwerpunktgruppen
        • Voraussetzungen
        • Kriterien
        • Verfahren
          • Befangenheit im Auswahlprozess
        • Übersicht über Schwerpunktgruppen
      • College for Life Sciences
        • Program
        • Application
        • Fellows
        • Scientific Committee
        • FAQ
    • Leben und Arbeiten
      • Finanzielle Regelungen
      • Wohnungen
      • Wissenschaftliches Leben
      • Dienste für Fellows
      • Dienste für Partnerinnen/Partner und Familien
Wissenschaftskolleg zu Berlin
DeutschEnglish
 Login


MENU

  • Institution
  • Fellows
  • Veranstaltungen
  • Wikothek
  • Fellow werden

  • Leitung
  • Gremien
  • Ansprechpartner
  • Das Kolleg
  • Initiativen & Kooperationen
  • Bibliothek

  • Working Futures
  • Blankensee-Colloquien
  • Anna Krüger Stiftung
  • Some Institutes for Advanced Study (SIAS)
  • Ukraine Fellowships
  • Elkana Fellowships

The COVID 19 crisis accelerates structural change in the world of work

Martin Krzywdzinski

The current crisis is having a massive impact on the economy and the world of work, and we can expect it to accelerate the structural change that has been shaping German manufacturing industries for at least three decades. Two developments are driving this change: the deep integration of German companies in global production networks and the relocation of production to low-wage countries. This has created a particular pattern of specialization. In a high-wage country such as Germany, only those manufacturing locations that develop innovation-related functions remain competitive. These functions can be special expertise in the ramp-up of new products and technologies, or close cooperation with product development departments. The shift of German manufacturing locations towards a combination of manufacturing and manufacturing-related innovation has led to an increase in the share of engineers, technicians, and skilled workers in employment over the past decades, while the share of semi-skilled workers has been steadily declining.

The COVID 19 crisis will exacerbate this development, because in order to survive the crisis, companies will look for savings. This will particularly affect those locations whose production can be relocated and which do not have specific innovation functions. Contrary to what is often predicted in the current debate, the crisis will not lead to “reshoring” and re-localization of production, but rather to an intensified search for locations with lower production costs and therefore to increased globalization. While it is entirely plausible that medical protective equipment and medicines will be increasingly produced locally, this does not necessarily apply to other products and industries.

It is also not to be expected that automation will trigger a trend that will lead to production being brought back to Germany. The reason is simple: the level of automation in most German industrial companies is already very high. A surge in automation is to be expected rather in China than in Germany. Since the COVID 19 crisis is accelerating the structural change that has taken place so far, long-term measures should be further developed in addition to short-term reactions to the crisis (such as the extension of short-time work benefits). Training and personnel development will play a special role in this context. What is lacking, first, is a systematic promotion of new forms of digital knowledge transfer that can be accessed by employees in a self-organized way and that are integrated into everyday working life. Those companies that have advanced in the introduction of digital learning platforms have benefited from them during the crisis. Second, many companies lack long-term development planning for their employees, especially for those working in production. However, they are the ones most affected by structural change. Long-term development paths must be designed for these people; the necessary training steps can be planned, based on these paths.


ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Martin Krzywdzinski is Professor of International Labor Relations at the Helmut Schmidt University in Hamburg, Head of the Research Group “Globalization, Work, and Production” at the Wissenschaftszentrum Berlin (WZB) and Director at the Weizenbaum Institute for the Networked Society. He is a member of the “Working Futures” Network at the Wissenschaftskolleg zu Berlin.

More articles of the series "Wiko Briefs - Working Futures in Corona Times" can be found here.

  • Interviews
  • Publications
    • Shifting Categories
    • Wiko Briefs - Working Futures in Corona Times
      • The digital transformation of work. COVID-19 as a taste of things to come?
      • Thinking the Global Rise of Forced Labor: Old, New, and Changing Forms of Labor Exploitation in Times of Crisis
      • Rearticulating globalization, solidarities, and work in Ethiopia
      • The future of shopping - Corona as a catalyst for the transformation of work
      • The End of the Pandemic of Productivism?
      • Covid and Looking for the Exit
      • Who or what is being tested in pandemic times?
      • The Crisis as Beginning of a New Relationship to the Professional World?
      • Controlled Avalanche – A Regulated Voluntary Exposure Approach for Addressing Covid-19
      • Caring about what we hold dear and the final purposes of work
      • How does the Corona crisis affect the future of work and our view of it?
      • "Useful", "indispensable", “essential”: Is the health crisis changing the categories with which we consider professional activities?
      • The Corona Crisis Reveals the Struggle for a Sustainable Digital Future
      • The Need for De-Integration in Pandemic Times
      • The COVID 19 crisis accelerates structural change in the world of work
      • How can we strengthen the contributory logic of work?
  • Events
  • Network

Institute for Advanced Study

  • Twitter
  • Pressenotizen
  • Ansprechpartner
  • Kontakt
  • Vakanzen
  • Impressum
  • Datenschutz
  • Sitemap

Institution

  • Leitung
  • Gremien
  • Ansprechpartner
  • Das Kolleg
  • Initiativen & Kooperationen
  • Bibliothek

Fellows

  • Fellowfinder
  • Fellows 2022/2023
  • Permanent Fellows
  • Alumni

Veranstaltungen

  • Veranstaltungskalender
  • Gesprächskonzerte
  • Zur Zeit
  • Observatorium
  • Ernst Mayr Lecture
  • Workshops
  • Three Cultures Forum

Wikothek

  • Wiko Shorts
  • Lectures on Film
  • Features
  • Köpfe und Ideen
  • Arbeitsvorhaben
  • Jahrbuch
  • Zeitschrift für Ideengeschichte

Fellow werden

  • Fellowships
  • Leben und Arbeiten