Skill and work experience in the European knowledge economy



their collective knowledge of work processes to develop novel solutions to
organisational problems.

In contrast, Regini (1995) has highlighted how competitive pressure has led companies
to link their product and service strategy closely to their skill formation strategies in
different ways. Regini identifies the existence of two radically different models of skill
production in the EU. One model, the ‘high added value’ model, tries to support
product and service innovation and increase productivity by generating a flow of
skilled labour inside companies in excess, both quantitatively and qualitatively, of
actual company demand. The other model, the ‘low added-value’ model, gears the
supply of skill to meet demand for existing products and services. In other words,
firms’ concentrate upon those segments of the labour market deemed crucial at a
particular time and targeted those for training and development.

Interpeting the empirical evidence as to whether the shift from ‘blue’ to ‘white’ collar
actually constitutes evidence of an increased demand for knowledge work is also
notoriously tricky. It appears that not all new occupations actually generate additional
‘high skill’ / ‘knowledge’ work nor do they necessarily require higher levels of
knowledge and skill (Tessaring 1997). Sometimes new occupations have in reality
been little more that the substitution of one form of employment for another. For
example, in the field of media and communication technology, traditional occupations
such as graphic artists, designers, media technicians etc, have been replaced by new
media occupations such as media operator, media designer. In other cases, although
genuinely new occupations have emerged in, such production areas as sports and
leisure, designer clothing, furniture, there is very mixed evidence about the
‘knowledge’ component of the work (Tessaring 1997).

Furthermore, the introduction of broader occupational profiles does not necessarily
indicate a shift towards knowledge work. Some occupational profiles have simply been

13



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