Disentangling structural change, servitization, and skill-biased change

This paper analyzes three key labor market trends – structural change, servitization, and skill-biased change – using German data from 1975 to 2017. Through a decomposition analysis, we discern their individual impacts on employment shifts, revealing their distinct roles in the German labor market’s evolution. Servitization and skill-biased change significantly influence employment growth alongside structural change. Surprisingly, for instance, structural change accounted for only two-thirds of job losses in the manufacturing sector. Further analysis uncovers more detailed patterns across tasks, firm types, and regions. • We jointly analyze structural change, servitization, and skill- biased change. • Servitization and skill-biased change significantly influence employment growth alongside structural change. • Structural change accounted for only two-thirds of job losses in the manufacturing sector. • The incorporation of tasks reveals distinct trends such as deroutinization. • Further analysis uncovers variation in the trends’ intensity across local labor markets.