Much has been said about the heroes in the system-maintaining professions in recent months. The approximately 1 million employees in the health care, cleaning, retail and transport sectors have kept the country running. The unequal pay and, as a result, unequal social security of many employees contradicts the high workloads to which they are exposed. externSORA study provides information about the working conditions.
ZUSAMMENFASSUNG
- Occupations and activities that have previously received little attention have become part of the public's consciousness as a result of the corona crisis. The designation "system-relevant" refers to the central nature of the "normalization work" that is carried out every day by employees in nursing and basic medical care, food supply, public safety or childcare.
- Most of these occupations, such as nursing and medical assistance, elderly care and care for the disabled, public safety, transportation, cleaning staff or cashiers and shelf attendants in retail, are characterized by high physical and psychosocial stress, atypical and flexible working hours and lower social security.
- The psychosocial stress is primarily evident in a high degree of time pressure, work intensification, the frequent change in work requirements and sometimes enormous psychological stress, for example when dealing with patients and people in need of care. The high physical stress arises, for example, from lifting loads (for example in the care sector), working in unfavorable positions or constant noise (for example in childcare).
- In terms of working hours, many of the “system-relevant” employees work at irregular intervals, especially in shift and rotation work, at atypical working hours/off-peak times such as at night or on weekends, and sometimes with frequent overtime.
- The average income varies greatly between professions. Those professions in which men predominantly work are usually also those where the income is higher. The working conditions and professional prestige in traditional "women's professions" are mainly characterized by part-time work and a correspondingly lower income. This means that many cannot live on their income alone, are therefore more often dependent on their partner's income and more often state that they will not be able to live on their pension alone in the future either.
- It is no coincidence that the focus is now on working women in particular, as the proportion of women in most so-called "system-relevant" professions is well over 80%. Professional social work in particular has traditionally been carried out by women, but at the same time these are precisely the professions that, although highly regarded by the population, are also characterized by high workloads, atypical employment relationships and low income. To put it bluntly: if income is used as a measure of social appreciation, working on machines and computers has so far been worth more than working with people.
- Improving social security is a necessary prerequisite for the sustainable upgrading of the professions and employees now recognized as "system-relevant". Greater appreciation also means: more staff, socially secure employment relationships that provide a living wage, reduced workloads, good career development opportunities, flexible working hours in the interests of employees, i.e. more opportunities to have a say and a reduction in working hours.
- Recognition must be viewed in a multidimensional way, as appreciation deficits accumulate at different levels. A lack of symbolic and economic appreciation of work is not only often associated with poor working conditions, but also with a low level of participation in other social achievements and a lack of involvement in political design and decision-making processes. The resulting feeling of injustice among employees ultimately leads to them losing their trust in democracy as the system that promises them participation and at least a certain degree of equality.
