Low-skill work in flux

This paper addresses the question of how far traditional assumptions about low-skill jobs are still appropriate today. Are we really dealing with activities without any particular skill requirements? How do firms proceed in filling such posts? What role is being played in this respect by ‘atypical’ employment relationships? The analysis is based on an evaluation of available studies on recruitment problems and low-skill jobs and case studies of recruitment into low-skill jobs in several service industries. There are several indications that job requirements are changing and becoming more differentiated, which would suggest that low-skill work is in a state of flux. Firms adopt a range of different recruitment strategies in order to fill such posts, among which flexible employment relationships and so-called mini-jobs play a role.