The world of work in the Dortmund region in transformation: Dynamics and perspectives in fields of low-skilled work

TU Dortmund University/Economic Development Agency Dortmund

In the current debate on the transformation of work, there is often a lack of focus on employees in low-skilled jobs that do not require any relevant vocational training and can be learnt quickly. Such jobs can be found in industrial production, logistics and in many service sectors (cleaning, catering, retail, etc.). In the Dortmund region (Dortmund, Unna district, Hamm), low-skilled work is also subject to a dynamic of change in the structural transformation (digitalisation, pandemic and crisis, shortage of skilled workers, etc.). In the research project, sfs at TU Dortmund University is investigating the demands that low-skilled jobs place on (low-skilled) employees and how these activities can be organised as 'good work'.

Economic Development Agency Dortmund

The study aims to gain insights into the current situation of low-skilled work in the region and its social consequences as well as the efficient use of the available labour force potential in (economic) structural and climate-neutral change. It aims to contribute to the questions of how existing jobs can be stabilised in the current situation and how new fields of work and employment prospects can be opened up. As a result, the project aims to identify guidelines for action and starting points for a socially innovative organisation of 'good' low-skilled work that can promote the attractiveness of local work and social cohesion in the region.

From a methodological point of view, an explorative study using empirical social research methods is at the centre of the project, which aims to capture different perspectives.