BIBB/BAuA Employment Survey
Survey of the Working Population on Qualification and Working Conditions in Germany
The BIBB/BAuA Employment Surveys are telephone surveys of 20,000 gainfully employed people, jointly carried out by the German Federal Institute for Vocational Education and Training (BIBB) and the German Federal Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (BAuA). The surveys are carried out in intervals of six years. Employed persons aged 15 and over with regular working hours of at least 10 hours per week are surveyed.
This data collection is meant to provide differentiated and representative information on the working population and jobs in Germany for quantitative employment and qualification research as well as for occupational health and safety reporting.
This is why, on the one hand, the survey focuses on questions regarding the workplace (main fields of responsibility, level of requirements, knowledge requirements, work requirements, need for advanced training, work conditions, work load, etc.); on the other, the survey looks into the relationship between education and employment (school education, vocational and advanced training, professional career, employment that is adequate to the vocational training, career changes, applicability of professional qualifications, etc.). Different occupational classifications allow for a differentiated illustration according to gainful employment and occupations requiring formal training.
The BIBB conducted the first major employment survey on acquisition and utilisation of professional qualifications and the professional circumstances in 1979 in cooperation with the Institute for Employment Research (IAB), with repeat surveys following in 1985/86, 1991/92, 1998/99, 2005/06 and 2011/12. The last survey was carried out in 2017/2018 in cooperation with the BAuA (BIBB/BAuA Employment Survey 2018).