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Oliver Stettes IW-Trends No. 1 14. April 2023 Solo Self-employed and Contract Workers as Catalysts of Digital Transformation in German Companies

In 2021, around one in four companies in Germany had solo self-employed workers or employees of outside companies working for them under contract.

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Solo Self-employed and Contract Workers as Catalysts of Digital Transformation in German Companies
Oliver Stettes IW-Trends No. 1 14. April 2023

Solo Self-employed and Contract Workers as Catalysts of Digital Transformation in German Companies

German Economic Institute (IW) German Economic Institute (IW)

In 2021, around one in four companies in Germany had solo self-employed workers or employees of outside companies working for them under contract.

This is the conclusion drawn by an empirical analysis based on the 29th and 30th waves of the IW Personnel Panel conducted in the spring and summer of 2022. Companies rely on solo self-employed and contract workers from outside companies when they need additional personnel only for a limited time and can obtain staff quickly from external sources. However, by using external workers, they also gain access to specific know-how not available in their own workforces. In addition, their use has an insurance function. It turns out that the use of external staff is a catalyst for digital transformation at the company level. Solo self-employed workers tend to play an important role in the introduction of digital frontier technologies, while contract workers from outside companies tend to be used in the implementation of more mature technologies.

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Solo Self-employed and Contract Workers as Catalysts of Digital Transformation in German Companies
Oliver Stettes IW-Trends No. 1 14. April 2023

Solo Self-employed and Contract Workers as Catalysts of Digital Transformation in German Companies

German Economic Institute (IW) German Economic Institute (IW)

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Unkenntliche junge Frau, die auf ihrem Laptop tippt.
Mareike Decker / Carolin Fulda / Maisun Lange IW-Trends No. 4 24. November 2023

Working with Long COVID: Impacts and Options for Work Arrangements

A SARS-CoV-2 infection can have long-term health consequences, a phenomenon commonly known as Long COVID, which often affect individuals of working age.

IW

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Andrea Hammermann /Roschan Monsef / Oliver Stettes IW-Report No. 55 20. October 2023

KI and the Labor Market: An Analysis of Employment Effects

It has been about ten years since Frey and Osborne's study on the automation risks of occupations in the USA fuelled the debate on the end of work due to digitalisation worldwide. Since then, numerous scientific studies have been published to examine the ...

IW

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