The Search for Work, Occupational Mobility, Work Mediation and Consultation (Unemployed)

Problems of unemployment from the perspective of affected workers.

Topics: occupation consultation by the employment office during time
in school; judgement on the consultation efforts of the employment
office; desired occupation and reasons for not realizing desired
occupation; occupation career; type of personal reduction in earning
capacity; information on illnesses and complaints; attitude to
short-term employment in comparison to unemployment; secondary income
during unemployment; personal efforts in the search for work and number
of personal applications; frequency of being turned down for an
available position; reasons for not being hired; assessment of the bias
of employers regarding unemployed; satisfaction with efforts by the
employment office and reasons for dissatisfaction; temporal interval of
being called to the employment office and personal interest in talking
with the case worker; recommendations received from the case worker and
opportunities to present personal job preferences; receipt of written
information from the employment office; information material about
rights and duties of unemployed; information and conversation about
occupation and further education opportunities through the employment
office; participation and conclusion of a course; purpose of course
participation; judgement on the improvement in personal occupational
chances; reasons for non-participation in a course; number of jobs and
unemployment in the last 5 years; begin and length of last as well as
first unemployment; employment before last and first unemployment;
assessment of the influence of unemployment on professional career;
type and length of unemployment benefits received; distance to
employment office; telephone contacts with employment office;
possession of a telephone; reasons for giving notice and dismissal by
employer or quitting by employee; financial losses through
unemployment; filing tax return during unemployment; characterization
of self-confidence in selected situations (scale); judgement on
economic situation of respondent as well as of the FRG in general;
memberships; residential status; type of city.

Employees were also asked: reasonableness of a job as worker.

Those currently working were also asked: previous and current
occupational activity; hours worked each week and overtime;
characterization of job; the route to work and means of transport used;
information on company and length of company employment; type of
positions arranged; characterization of difficulties in the search for
work; comparison of previous and current job; correspondence of
expectations of job; necessity of regional mobility and distance of move;
renewed change of position at place of work.

Unemployed currently not looking for work were additionally asked:
reasons why employment was not possible or desired; desire for
employment; search for work through the employment office in the
previous year; length of time until first job offer and number of
positions offered altogether; specification of health restrictions by
the job seeker.

Unemployed looking for work or with a promise of work were
additionally asked: urgency of search for work; desire for permanent
position or temporary work; desired working hours; precise employment
desire; characterization of rejected job characteristics; ideas of
income; mobility willingness; major reasons for difficulties in the
search for work in the nearer vicinity; judgement on one´s own view of
jobs available; time of restricted benefits from the employment office;
income comparison between the newly obtained and old position; position
from a job creation measure.

Demography: age; sex; marital status; school education; household
income; household size; respondent is head of household;
characteristics of head of household.