Employment & Labour Market

In a globalized world, the economy depends on the skills, knowledge and creativity of every individual, regardless of origin, gender or religion. In recent years, against the backdrop of an increasing shortage of skilled workers, specific groups of employees and their potential, in particular older people, women, people with disabilities or migrant backgrounds, have become even more the focus of .

does not serve diversity at any price and does not benefit from diversity for the sake of diversity alone, but is linked to concrete goals such as improving innovative capacity or a better customer approach. The diversity of the workforce can become a success factor because different ways of thinking, perspectives and backgrounds increase creativity and innovative ability when solving problems or developing products or services. The important thing is that a common language and a uniform value system that is recognized by all must form the basis for a diverse workforce and represents the link between diversity and unity. Diversity only leads to competitive advantages if business contexts are also sufficiently taken into account. Only the conscious and targeted handling of diversity has positive effects on the innovative strength and thus on the economic success of a company. Last but not least, employees are particularly motivated when they and their performance are valued without prejudice.

Many companies have long since discovered the opportunities associated with diversity and make conscious use of them. In order to attract diverse employees and retain them in the company in the long term, is possible. One important approach is to specifically attract qualified immigrants and people with an immigrant background to the company. Particularly for the strongly export-oriented German economy, the skillful handling of the diversity of languages, cultures, values and working styles is important in order to operate successfully on an international level. Diversity management also makes use of the potential of older employees. In order to deal successfully with an ageing workforce, it is important to have a demographically sound , which covers the areas of health, qualification and motivation. Two out of three industrial companies already offer special personnel policy measures for employees over 50. Of course, this also includes . Equally important is a family-conscious personnel policy to support employees who are raising children or caring for relatives. Almost every company now offers a measure to reconcile private and professional life. The wide range of company offers includes, above all, models to make working hours and work organisation more flexible, such as flexitime models or mobile working.

Due to the increasing shortage of skilled workers, the German economy is more dependent than ever on exploiting the potential labour force in Germany and abroad. Demographic change has made securing a skilled workforce a structural problem. Making a workforce diverse means targeting those who have not been reached by previous recruitment or development efforts. These hidden talents sometimes require special targeting to fully develop their potential. Employers have a responsibility in unleashing these diverse talents. Consciously broadening the talent pool is increasingly becoming a critical success factor for a successful recruitment and talent development policy.

The objective of the corporate initiative "" is the recognition, appreciation and inclusion of diversity in the corporate culture in Germany. The signatory companies and institutions commit themselves to creating a working environment that is free of prejudice.

- regardless of gender, nationality, ethnic origin, religion or belief, disability, age, sexual orientation and identity. With more than 3,000 signatories and a total of more than 13 million employees, the charter is one of the largest networks in Germany. and its underlying idea in the companies and is itself a signatory.