Review NWX23: Labor market under the spell of skills shortages, generational conflicts and AI

In Switzerland, June 14, 2023, was Women's Strike Day - in Hamburg, with the NWX23 probably the largest HR festival in the German-speaking world. What do the two events have to do with each other? More than one might expect. Because gender issues, the equal treatment of generations and cultures are now part of a challenging mix of factors that occupy the world of work. Gazelle Vollhase, Recruiting, Diversity & Inclusion Partner at online price comparison portal idealo and, as a transwoman herself, part of the LGBTQ community, put her finger on some sore spots in recruiting. "Modern recruiting is inclusive recruiting," she said in her keynote. And that's not simply about quotas for women, she said, because even there, people think primarily only of the "white woman" type. If there are to be quotas, then they should be for "underrepresented groups," she demanded. Generation Z also pays attention to inclusive language, starting with consistent gendering on company websites. Companies can benefit from diverse and inclusive recruiting, but they will have to rethink many of their dusty parameters for hiring.

Promote dialogue between generations

Gazelle Vollhase was just one of a total of over 150 well-known and lesser-known voices from politics, business, human resources, science and culture. Speakers included Sascha Lobo and John Bercow (former Speaker of the House of Commons) as well as German soccer celebrities in the person of Steffi Jones, Neven Subotic and Manuel Gräfe. Under the title "Welcome to New Challenges," Petra von Strombeck, CEO of New Work SE, and Marc-Sven Kopka, Vice President External Affairs at the same company, addressed NWX23 on generational conflicts, skills shortages and artificial intelligence as three of the biggest challenges facing the labor market. "The upheaval of the labor market also stands for a new dawn - and this is exactly where we are starting with NWX23," explained von Strombeck at the opening of the event. "To remain fit for the future, we need to take advantage of opportunities offered by digitalization, promote dialog between generations and focus on the needs of skilled workers."

Labor shortage, not "only" shortage of skilled workers...

With numerous masterclasses, panels, workshops and keynotes, the diverse program continued throughout the day. Also tying into the theme of cross-age collaboration was the keynote by generational researcher Dr. Eliza Filby, who explained how the diversity of perspectives of different age groups can be managed under one roof. Her conclusion: it works, but you have to work at it.

Cawa Younosi, Head of Human Resources and Member of the Executive Board at SAP, Kerstin Wagner, Head of Recruitment at Deutsche Bahn, Katharina Herrmann, Chief Human Resources and Compliance Officer at Hubert Burda Media, and Katrin Schwerdtner, Head of People & Culture at Tomorrow, discussed the topic of "New Talent: Are we getting the skills shortage right?" in one of the most well-attended panels. The speakers agreed that the core problem is not the skills shortage, but the workforce shortage. And what we are experiencing today is just the beginning of an impending tsunami, as Prof. Dr. Heike Bruch from the University of St.Gallen, also a keynote speaker in Hamburg, warned in an interview with our medium. If we do not tackle the effects of demographic change today, it would become "really difficult" to find enough workers by 2025 at the latest.

"Reverse Recruiting" at XING Job World

Of course, NWX23 was essentially a PR event for New Work SE with its three brands XING, onlyfy by XING and kununu. The fact that the company offers helpful recruiting tools was repeatedly emphasized. For example, the XING Job World was also on the agenda for the first time, with around 20 companies offering direct on-site applications to more than 800 young talents. According to New Work SE, the offer, which was free of charge for students, met with an above-average positive response and had proven its worth as a new format. The well-attended and top-class master classes and workshops with renowned career and application coaches such as Dr. Bernd Slaghuis or Nane Nebel had also contributed to this.

Inclusive recruiting, positioning an employer brand and putting people at the center and not just their manpower: These were much-heard recipes in Hamburg. Best practice examples were also mentioned: Heike Wenzel, managing partner of WENZEL Group GmbH & Co. KG, was able to report on positive experiences with the 4-day week in her family business. This is not only a way to score points with Generation Z, which is said to want to earn money but work less - or rather: differently.

Review NWX23: Still a lot to do - so "Word Forward".

In summary: NWX23 presented a panorama of the current challenges in the world of work. Although the individual challenges are not new, they are now occurring in concentrated form and at high speed. The tools of the past are no longer suitable for overcoming them. And many companies are being forced to adopt new approaches to solving these problems, which can sometimes trigger resistance. And it has to be said that there is still a lot to be done and many existing mindsets have to be changed. Against this background, protest movements such as the women's strike in Switzerland are likely to remain necessary for some time, as long as employers, for example. want to make believe on the basis of a few statisticsthat there is nothing wrong with equal pay...