Hosted by Steinmühle: Future Workshop on Securing a Skilled Workforce

As part of its partnership with the Marburg-Biedenkopf district, Steinmühle hosted a full-day “Future Workshop” on the topic of securing a skilled workforce. The event was organized by the newly founded Marburg-Biedenkopf Economic Development Corporation (Wirtschaftsförderungsgesellschaft Marburg-Biedenkopf mbH), represented by its managing director Tobias Kurka, and the Office for Securing a Skilled Workforce at the Hessian Ministry of Social Affairs and Integration.

In his welcome address to the participants, Steinmühle Managing Director Dirk Konnertz mentioned the close and ongoing collaboration with the district, but also emphasized the connection between the conference’s theme and Steinmühle as an educational institution. During the lunch break, Principal Björn Gemmer gave the guests a tour of the Steinmühle campus.

District Administrator Jens Womelsdorf emphasized that the Future Workshop, with over forty participants, was an excellent example of successful cooperation within the district. Among those invited to the conference were representatives from the Chamber of Industry and Commerce, Philipps University of Marburg, the Technical University of Central Hesse, local banks, and leading companies in the region.

 

By 2028, the district will be short more than 4,000 skilled workers with vocational degrees

“Securing a skilled workforce is a genuine societal and long-term challenge that requires the commitment of all stakeholders. I am grateful that we in Hesse are working together to address the issue of securing skilled workers and the labor force. We need coordinated strategies for securing a skilled workforce to pool regional resources, create synergies, and tap into further potential,” said Claudia Wesner of the Office for Securing a Skilled Workforce at the Hessian Ministry of Social Affairs and Integration.

Dr. Christa Larsen, Director of the Institute for Economics, Labor, and Culture at Goethe University Frankfurt: “The labor market situation in the Marburg-Biedenkopf district is already quite tight and will become even more severe in the coming years. By 2028 alone, the district will face a shortage of approximately 4,000 skilled workers with academic or vocational degrees. These skilled-worker shortages will grow even larger in the coming years as the baby boomer generation retires. That is why existing strategies for securing a skilled workforce must be reevaluated, and we need to explore what new approaches are necessary. Ideas for this will be developed in the Future Workshop.”

The Marburg-Biedenkopf Economic Development Corporation (WFG), founded in May 2023, is intended to help address the shortage of skilled workers. The WFG will build on the results of the Future Workshop to strengthen the district’s economic and employment structure in a sustainable manner, in collaboration with all stakeholders.