Research question/goal:

This study explored the risks and rewards of unconventional career moves within German firms, comparing the experiences of German employees with those of workers from other countries. It found that persistent inequalities between these groups are closely linked to the undervaluation of foreign qualifications in Germany and to immigrants’ limited familiarity with German labour market institutions.
Using an innovative measurement approach, the study examined how non-German employees gain unique occupational experiences and how employers assess those experiences. The analysis drew on extensive data from the Research Data Centre of the German Federal Employment Agency at the Institute for Employment Research, covering nearly two million employees across more than eleven thousand firms.
The results show that employees who develop distinctive career experiences within a firm often only benefit from such experiences when moving to new employers. However, the extent to which those experiences are rewarded varies—both in financial and structural outcomes and between German and other EU employees. The greatest advantages occur when employees’ experience profiles are both formally documented and clearly different from typical career paths.
The findings also identify a new form of labour arbitrage: instead of relocating jobs across borders, this strategy involves leveraging distinctive work experiences within the same labour market. While this can create opportunities for underrepresented groups, it often comes at a high cost, including the challenge of changing both occupations and employers simultaneously.
Overall, the study highlights that career mobility in Germany depends on the interaction between firms and occupations. Formal job changes matter, but so does how these shifts fit into broader patterns of work experience. Yet, for many non-German employees, these distinctive experiences still receive limited recognition.