○ Korea and Germany display considerable differences in terms of the job characteristics of technicians and production workers. These differences were found to concern the disparity between the two countries, not the disparity between technicians and production workers or SMEs and large corporations.
○ Korea notably fell behind Germany in terms of the frequency of improving relevant procedures and implementing innovative methods for new tasks.
○ Technicians and production workers in Korea were seldom required to utilize their capacity to the fullest at work, while those in Germany were frequently required to do so.
○ Technicians and production workers in Korea were frequently instructed, while those in Germany were allowed to work on their own in general. Changes due to new processing technologies, programs, and equipment and experiences of restructuring were more frequently found in Germany than in Korea.
○ In Korea, large corporations and SMEs showed little difference in terms of job characteristics and structural changes to work sites as well as the working conditions of technicians and production workers. This is inconsistent with the fact that a wide wage gap exists between large corporations and SMEs.