In his 1931 published chapter “Die Berufseinstellung jugendlicher Arbeiter,” Paul F. Lazarsfeld investigates how young industrial workers perceive and evaluate their occupational prospects within the broader context of early twentieth‑century economic and social change. The study explores the subjective meanings that adolescents attach to work, the interplay of aspiration and resignation in their career choices, and the formative role of schooling, apprenticeship, and workplace experiences. Lazarsfeld demonstrates that young workers’ attitudes are not merely reflections of individual preference, but are systematically shaped by class position, economic insecurity, generational viewpoints, and institutional structures. The article highlights tensions between youthful ideals of mobility and the structural constraints of the labor market, offering one of the earliest sociological contributions to the study of vocational socialization. Beyond its empirical findings, the essay anticipated later developments in the sociology of work and education by framing career orientation as a process of negotiation between biography and social structures.