Seifert, Wolfgang: Occupational and social integration of immigrant groups in Germany. In: New Community. An/Vol. 22 (1996) Nr. 3. pp. 417 – 436.

Mediterranean immigrants still hold the lower positions in the German labour market. Their employment profile is clearly different from that of German wage earners and salaried employees. The proportion of immigrants employed as unskilled or semi‐skilled workers in 1993 was 60 per cent. Between 1984 and 1994 the occupational mobility of immigrants was relatively low. The situation of the second generation of immigrants has clearly improved. In small proportions they even found access to attractive jobs in the service sector. Compared to Germans of the same age group their occupational success is still limited, however. The social situation of immigrants is characterised by increasing segregation. The Mediterranean immigrants have prepared for a permanent or long‐term stay in Germany but identify as members of their own ethnic community rather than as Germans. Immigrants who have entered into Germany in the 1980s and 1990s have higher qualifications than Mediterranean immigrants. The access to and the position in the West German labour market depends strongly on the immigrants’ legal status. Prospects appear to be best for East Germans with access to the labour market being more difficult for ethnic Germans and for foreign immigrants. The period of entry is also significant in terms of the labour market integration. Conditions are worse for the most recent arrivals.