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Abstract
Older workers face problems in the labor market due to dominant beliefs about their abilities: they are perceived as reliable, trustworthy, and loyal, but also as less adaptable, less motivated, and less capable compared to younger workers. The mixed beliefs about older workers resonate with the stereotype of older people in society according to the Stereotype Content Model (SCM) of being warm but less competent and are reflected in news and corporate media. The present study contributes by approaching stereotypes about older workers' employability from a communication perspective. The study examines which requirements are communicated by employers in job advertisements targeting older job seekers, compared to those in job advertisements targeting general job seekers. This is done by using automated content analysis to inductively identify prominently advertised requirements, and to examine how these align with the older workers' stereotype. Additionally, interviews with recruitment experts are conducted to provide explanation and interpretation. Findings reveal that the persistent idea about older workers performing well on so-called soft abilities and poorer on so-called hard abilities is reflected in job advertisements targeting older job seekers, as these represent requirements related to hard abilities to a lesser extent, whereas abilities related to customer service are more often requested. The mixed beliefs about older workers are reflected in the expert perspective of recruiters too, although with some optimism that older workers' soft abilities fit well with employers' need for a social and responsible workforce. The study contributes to insights regarding the SCM and framing theory.

AbstractWe analyse how job training requirements interact with engineering complexity in shaping firms' automation decisions. A model that distinguishes between a task's engineering complexity and its training requirements predicts that when two tasks are equally complex, firms automate the task that requires more training. Under plausible conditions this leads to job polarisation, and in particular to polarisation of employment by initial training requirements. US data provide empirical support for the model's implications. Training requirements and a measure of engineering complexity account for much of US job polarisation from 1980 to 2008.

Tabulation of the color discrimination requisites of a representative sample of 4,000 jobs revealed that the great majority of jobs require little or no color perception aptitude. The 2 percent of jobs requiring above‐average color discrimination were listed by Dictionary of Occupational Titles classifications for the use of counselors in the guidance of clients with defective color vision.

'Die Fehlqualifikations-Forschung gewinnt als eigenständige und innovative Teildisziplin der Arbeitsmarktforschung schnell an Bedeutung. Als Fehlqualifikation wird eine fehlende Übereinstimmung zwischen erworbener beruflicher Qualifikation und den Anforderungen der ausgeübten beruflichen Tätigkeit bezeichnet. Von besonderem Interesse dabei ist der vertikale Mismatch in Form einer Überqualifikation. Ein wesentliches Hemmnis der weiteren Entwicklung der deutschen Überqualifikations- Forschung liegt in einer spezifischen Datenrestriktion: Häufig enthalten die verfügbaren Mikrodaten keine hinreichend genauen Angaben zum Job-Anforderungsniveau der Erwerbstätigen. In dieser Situation behelfen sich viele Forscher dadurch, dass sie die Information zur beruflichen Stellung als Proxy für das Job Anforderungsniveau verwenden. Dieses Verfahren hat jedoch schwer wiegende Nachteile, die die Validität der Messung von Überqualifikation in Frage stellt. Im vorliegenden Beitrag wird ein leistungsfähigeres Verfahren zur Generierung eines Proxys des Job-Anforderungsniveaus vorgestellt. Dieses basiert auf den Informationen zum ausgeübten Beruf und zur beruflichen Stellung. Beide Variablen sind in den meisten Datensätzen verfügbar. Mit dem neuen Verfahren werden somit auch Datensätze, die das Job-Anforderungsniveau der Erwerbstätigen nicht explizit erfragen, für die Überqualifikationsforschung nutzbar.' (Autorenreferat)