Routine at work

Changes in occupational content are often driven by technological developments such as the introduction of machines to perform physically demanding tasks. This means that occupations affected may lose parts of their characteristic contents, whilst other content may be added. It is not easy to predict precisely which tasks will be replaced by technology. One prominent approach (the “task approach”) assumes that so-called routine tasks in particular could be omitted through the increased deployment of new technologies. This article provides an empirical portrayal of the development of routine contents of occupations over recent decades. The focus is on what routine contents are, on how they have developed in the past and on the implications that can be identified for occupational activities.