Skilled labour shortage in the embedded systems industry

How to deal with skilled labour shortage?

The shortage of skilled labour impacts today many industry sectors worldwide. In Germany, for instance, a recent study from the VDE, one the largest ICT associations, reports a demand for electronic engineers that is about twice as large as the total amount of graduates in the country. This large demand is driven by mega trends such as digitalization, the energy crisis, Indusry 4.0, autonomous driving and the like.

Talents are more selective, often unaffordable for small and medium-sized enterprises, expect flexible work and aim to be engaged in societally relevant challenges.

Alexander Greie, Head of Talent Attraction Team, Infineon Technologies, Adriana Gogomel, CEO, StatInf, and Magdalena Daxenberger, Marketing & Innovation Manager, DH Electronics, discussed best practices to attract talent in a competitive labour market with their host Jeronimo Castrillon Mazo, TU Dresden, at the exhibitor forum of embedded world 2023. The panelists covered perspectives from academia, start-ups, a family business and a large international corporation.

Start-ups often struggle with the issue that they cannot offer the same salaries as large corporations. But they have soft skills, which more and more people appreciate. “One of our new employees said that he wants to be listened and to be part of something that is starting now, when I asked him why he quitted his job at a large company”, reported Adriana Gogomel. “People are more looking on the companies’ values”, added Magdalena Daxenberger on this topic.

All three panelists agreed on the fact that candidates don’t need to fulfill 100 per cent of the requirements. It is far more important to find people with great potential and matching soft skills to develop them. Also, more flexibility is needed: hire non-German speaking people, allow most flexible working conditions e. g. Alexander Greie sees great potential in strengthening ecosystems and connecting industry players, like silicon saxony aims for example.

The effort to find talent must begin much earlier than it has so far. Already at kindergarten age, girls and boys should be equally enthused about technical topics. Here, too, companies can make their contribution. “We need role models who talk about their passion for the industry and technology to drive the future”, emphasised Magdalena Daxenberger, “we need to raise the potential of women in the embedded systems industry.” Initiatives like the networking event #women4ew are a first step in the right direction.

Watch the whole panel discussion on skilled labour shortage