📈 Results
Vocational graduates perform more routine tasks than university graduates. This explains 11% of the income gap but no differences in unemployment risk. Returns to routine tasks decline with age affecting vocationally trained workers disproportionately due to higher average routine scores.

⚙️ Method
We use decomposition techniques on two rich datasets—the German Socio-Economic Panel and the BiBB/BAuA Employment Survey—to study task differences and their effects across the career span.

🔍 The Puzzle
Why do workers with vocational and tertiary degrees experience persistent differences in income and employment outcomes? Beyond skill differences, we explore whether disparities in the performance and payoffs of routine tasks play a role.

Thanks to @jkofferhaus.bsky.social at the BIBB for organizing this event so well and to all participants incl. @kadwe.bsky.social @vdecker.bsky.social @thijsbol.bsky.social for the very stimulating exchanges!

Would love to be added to this package!

Our findings suggest that workers with general educational qualification may not adapt to labor market change by using their flexible skill sets to switch occupations. Instead, particularly those with tertiary degrees seem to have very stable late careers.

Based on data from Germany, we find that workers with general educational qualification switch occupations more frequently than vocationally trained workers in the first half of their working careers but trajectories converge thereafter.