Re-defining Core and Periphery: The Case of the German Automotive Sector

This paper addresses the question why contingent work has become increasingly relevant in core sectors of Coordinated Market Economies.  It draws on the case of the German metal sector, where agency workers are concentrated. They are employed in all production segments, from the assembly line to Research&Development (Holst, Nachtwey et al. 2009). This phenomenon is interesting because it contradicts the dominant literature, which contends that the German Diversified Quality Production relies on specific-skilled workforce in a permanent employment relationship (i.a. Streeck 1991; Hall and Soskice 2001).

This paper argues that the growth of agency work is due to an increase in the replaceability rate of the core workforce. It first re-conceptualises the distinction between core and periphery as deriving both from skill and production requirements (Doeringer and Piore 1971) and from Internal Labour Market arrangements – e.g. qualification requirements and career ladders – bargained at workplace (Rubery 1978). So standardisation and fragmentation of work as well as power shifts between labour and management lead to re-define (and to blur) the boundaries between core and peripheral jobs. The preliminary findings point out changes in the structure of the labour process (e.g. routinization and otusourcing) as well as neo-liberal labour market reforms as responsible for higher replaceability. The findings rely on the data on skills and tasks of the German Federal Institute of Vocational Training and on qualitative interviews with HR managers and workers’ representatives in German automotive companies.