Job polarization, job tasks and the role of firms

•I examine how firms influence the current process of job polarization.•The analysis is based on detailed Swedish matched employer-employee data.•I find evidence of within-firm job polarization.•Both within-firm and between-firm components are important for job polarization.•The degree of routineness of jobs is the most important explanation for the results.

Using detailed Swedish matched employer-employee data, I show evidence of within-firm job polarization. Applying a decomposition framework, I find that both within-firm and between-firm components are important for overall job polarization. Results also indicate that the degree of routineness is the most important explanation for the observed within-firm pattern. Bringing the analysis down to the firm level seems to confirm the important role played by routine-biased technological change.