Successful youth recruiting means new methods of sourcing talent

Well-trained specialists are important success factors for companies. The lack of qualified workers significantly reduces value creation and growth.

So all the more problematic is the fact that the much-lamented skills shortage continues. Anyone who wants to train entrepreneurial talent themselves now faces a double challenge - as a result of the demographic change, there are fewer applicants overall, which means that companies no longer have to select young talent, but have to search independently and specifically. This puts employers right ahead of the next question in the area of ​​apprentice marketing in particular: Which channels are the best ways to reach young people today? 

Theme day for a joint solution search

To discuss all these issues together and exchange practical experiences, around 30 participants from companies in the regions of Saxony, Saxony-Anhalt and Thuringia met at the Cotesa GmbH - a leading aviation supplier of fiber composite components - at the Döbeln plant on May 23, 2019. Invitations had the project MAI Job of the Carbon Composites eV (CCeV) together with the regional department CC Ost and the Automotive Cluster East Germany (ACOD) for the theme day "How do I find skilled workers? The road to successful job marketing". 

How to find how to hold?

Both SMEs and large companies face the same challenges in recruiting new talent, as was demonstrated in particular by the two opening lectures. Nicole Böttcher-Eichler (Personnel Officer, Cotesa) and Jörg Keller (Head of Vocational Training, BMW Leipzig) clearly stated that in addition to the search for potential trainees via classical channels such as job fairs, job advertisements or entries in well-known job portals for the target group In particular, the simultaneous use of digital media and social platforms such as Facebook, Instagram, YouTube or Whatsapp is important. In addition, personal contact is still the most valuable factor in successfully addressing and selecting suitable candidates.

Sammy Techritz (Managing Director, LS Korropol GmbH) went a step further with his talk on "employee satisfaction and retention". In addition to all efforts to attract skilled workers, employee retention measures should not be neglected. After all, companies that manage to successfully retain employees at the beginning of their career improve their own market position.

There was a general consensus among attendees at the event that young people today have very different demands on the world of work than the previous generation. Thus, they increasingly attach importance to realize themselves with their professional activity, but not only live to work. A good work-life balance is just as important to them as development and further education opportunities. As an entrepreneur, you have to adapt to the needs of this target group in order to attract talented new talent and to retain it in the long term. 

MAI Job offers help for self-help

As part of the government-sponsored JOBSTARTER plus program, the CCeV's MAI Job project has made it its mission to offer small and medium-sized companies support in attracting talent. In addition, the CCeV assists its members with all matters relating to education. The Regional Department CC Ost is also heavily involved in the promotion of young talent.

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