Space-Time Variations in Job Types: A Tale of “Three Europes”

Abstract This article, which draws on three waves (2005, 2010, 2015) of the European Working Conditions Survey, examines the nature and prevalence of different job types in a representative sample of employees in 30 European countries (N = 59,839) and investigates their change over time. Using self-organizing map, sampled employees were first grouped into seven job types, based on similar job features in the following dimensions: physical environment, work intensity, working time quality, social environment, skill and discretion, and earnings and prospects. Subsequently, the resulting job types were validated by linear regression models on outcomes that are indicative of job quality, such as well-being and job satisfaction. Finally, space-time variations in the distribution of job types were explored using a two-stage formulation model that contrasted universalistic and institutional explanations of change. Results indicate that three clusters of countries could be distinguished, which only partially fit into existing regime classifications: i) the Northern cluster (Scandinavian countries); ii) the Central and Western cluster (Belgium, the Netherlands, Luxembourg, France, Germany, Austria, Slovenia, Estonia, but also the UK, Ireland and Malta); and iii) the Southern and Eastern cluster (Mediterranean countries including Cyprus and Turkey, the former socialist EU member states, Latvia, and Lithuania). These clusters present specific patterns of change in the distribution of job types that are more closely related to the change in the national economic situation and the employment structure than to institutional variation.