The shift from tayloristic to holistic work organization within firms is accompanied by a growing demand for transferable skills. This paper shows that continuous training acts as an insurance device against high losses in the case of a crisis. Contrary to the standard results of human capital theory, holistic firms are willing to invest in transferable human capital. Due to labour market imperfections arising from a holistic environment, ex-post-mobility of trained workers is reduced. Therefore firms are able to recoup their investment in transferable skills. Unfortunately ruling German labour market institutions, especially the system of collective bargaining, reduce the incentive of firms not only to invest in continuous training of transferable skills but also to restructure the work organization.
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