Education & Modern Work - vdma.org

Our learning offers promote the individual technical professionalization as well as the development of new competences - with a view to the current and future requirements in the companies.

Change is needed in various areas of education and working life to attract more women to technical professions. The latest study by the VDMA's Impuls Foundation investigates exactly what is needed. For the first time, the study focuses on the link between studies, career entry and the first years of employment for female engineers.

The number of vacancies for engineers in the mechanical engineering sector has reached a new high and demand will continue to grow. Currently, two out of three companies have engineering vacancies to fill.

On 1 January 2023, and over the course of the next year, changes will come into force in the areas of old-age security, health and long-term care.

Nearly 90 percent of engineering companies are looking for skilled workers. Reform is therefore needed to facilitate the immigration of skilled workers. Temporary staffing can play an important role in this.

During the Corona pandemic, the Federal Joint Committee (Gemeinsamer Bundesausschuss, G-BA) had included a temporary special regulation on sick notes by telephone in its incapacity for work guideline.

The majority of companies are cautiously optimistic about the current year. Supply chains are relaxing, but the supply of electronic components remains challenging. And the persistent shortage of skilled workers is also an obstacle for many companies.

Anchoring a points system in immigration law should make it easier for labor and skilled workers to immigrate. Temporary employment agencies should continue to play no role in placement - this is a missed opportunity. The draft law must be improved here.

On March 20, 2023, the garnishment exemption limits 2023 according to § 850c ZPO were published in the Federal Law Gazette.

We would like to draw your attention to the new publication "Arbeitszeit" from the Düsseldorfer Schriftenreihe.

What justifies a request for information by the occupational health and safety authority?

Do breaks with standby duty count as working time or as rest time?

Freedom of contract is no justification for unequal pay for men and women.

DiKliMa sees digitization as an opportunity for innovative climate management and as an important aspect of employee recruitment and retention. The project partners are the Nachwuchsstiftung Maschinenbau and the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology.

The calculation schema for non-wage labor costs is a model calculation for determining the imputed surcharge for direct and indirect wage-dependent costs. Here you will find the current version, as of March of the current year.

For the biologization of technology, we as an industry need to break ground now to set the course for a waste-free future.

The shortage of skilled workers in Berlin is not only hampering the economy, but also endangering critical infrastructure. Now chambers and associations have published a joint declaration.

The causes of the shortage of skilled workers are also to be found in the education system. There is a particular need for action in the technical skills of young people. To make dual training fit for the future, the state urgently needs to invest in vocational schools.

Advancing digitalization, the development of climate-friendly technologies and the mobility revolution - the machinery and equipment manufacturing industry is facing enormous challenges. Securing the availability of skilled workers is becoming a mammoth task.

Together with a university network in Ghana, students with IT expertise are to be approached to work remotely for mechanical engineering companies.

THINK BIG! is an initiative of the VDMA and its members together with Messe München and other partners. Our goal is to get young people excited about technology and the corresponding career prospects. We also specifically address young women and girls!

On 20 February 2023, BMAS and BMI presented drafts of a law on the further development of skilled labor immigration and an ordinance on the further development of skilled labor immigration.

Too few women choose this career path as an engineer because technical job descriptions are often unclear. Prevailing role models and clichés need to be cleared up.

Short-time work is an important instrument, but all special rules on short-time work have long been superfluous. By still sticking to making it easier for companies to access short-time work, Federal Labor Minister Heil is bringing the entire instrument into disrepute.

Minister Schulze and Minister Heil promote better economic cooperation between Germany and Africa. With its "Skilled Workers for Africa" initiative, the VDMA is working intensively to promote on-site vocational training and the expansion of local value creation.

VDMA found out why agility only works with attitude in an interview with Christian Gerlach from macio GmbH and with Judith Armbruster from iT Engineering Software Innovations GmbH.

The German Metal and Electrical Employers' Federation (Gesamtmetall) has commissioned three expert reports on current issues relating to working time legislation.

Finding and retaining skilled workers is increasingly a Herculean task. Against this background, too, it is becoming increasingly important to attract more women to technical professions.

Current labor market policy decisions and rulings on labor law have an impact on operational practice - also in the mechanical and plant engineering sector.

Tax agreements at the expense of the employee in the case of posting abroad are permissible.

The production sector is usually neglected in New Work. New Work is more than home office and free processes and therefore there are also different starting points in production.

Skilled workers remain in high demand. With the reform of the Skilled Workers Immigration Act, things are looking up, at least with regard to the recruitment and placement of skilled workers from third countries who are willing to immigrate.

In order to implement the Directive, the German legislator has made amendments to the Employee Posting Act (AEntG) - in particular with regard to remuneration and the granting of working conditions.

On 25 January 2023 the federal cabinet approved the early repeal of the SARS-CoV-2 Occupational Health and Safety Ordinance. The ordinance will expire on 2 February 2023.

Traditionally at the beginning of the year, the VDMA revises and updates its economic policy positions.

With its latest economic policy positions, the VDMA provides a guidepost with which politics and business can jointly tackle the challenges of transformation. "To do this, we need to get out of crisis mode," demands VDMA President Karl Haeusgen. "Then our companies can show what they do best: offer technical solutions for the tasks ahead."

At WomenPower 2023, Deutsche Messe will honor a female pioneer in the STEM field who, through her commitment, ideas and work, sets innovative trends in the technical field and motivates and inspires fellow women.

Cooperation with Africa is to be geared more closely to the countries' economic interests. This is the right approach, because good economic conditions are the basis for Africa's sustainable, social and ecological development. To achieve this, the German government now needs a unified interministerial Africa strategy.

The obligation to provide information under data protection law also covers the identity of the recipients of personal data.

In December 2022, the Federal Ministry of Labour, Social Affairs and Consumer Protection (BMAS) presented a draft bill to strengthen the promotion of training and continuing education and to introduce a period of training (Continuing Education Act).

They are considered to be particularly demanding and at the same time they can choose their jobs: Companies supposedly have to roll out the red carpet for the young professionals of the so-called Generation-Z. But as is so often the case, cliché and reality differ considerably. Recruiting young talent has not become easier for industrial companies in the digital age. But with a little courage and creativity, Generation-Z can also be reached well. 

In 2022, the bottlenecks on the labor market for engineers have worsened significantly. Never before have machinery and equipment manufacturers been looking for so many employees, and never before have there been more vacancies for engineers.

The issue of a shortage of skilled workers must continue to be actively addressed. This requires a realistic view of requirements and the will of all stakeholders to make training attractive and to market it. The MINT action plan is a good building block for this, which will hopefully inspire more young men and women to take up training in mechanical engineering in the future.

The VDMA has called for tax-based research funding with great commitment, and it was introduced in 2020. The research allowance has developed successfully so far, with mechanical engineering being the strongest user. At the same time, there is a need for optimization in order to make the research allowance even better known and to expand its success.

Do employees have to be available to receive duty roster changes during their free time?

In addition to other criteria, pension proximity can also play a role in social selection in the context of termination for operational reasons.

Can employers refer the works council to webinars when offering training for cost reasons?

Wertschätzung für die Lehre, Unterstützung guter Lehrvorhaben und Rückenwind für innovative Konzepte – darum geht es beim höchstdotierten Lehrpreis in den Ingenieurwissenschaften auf Bundesebene, dem VDMA-Hochschulpreis „Bestes Maschinenhaus“.

A total of 14,000 jobs were unfilled in the mechanical and plant engineering sector at the end of 2022 - and there is no quick solution in sight for how to fill this gap. This is another reason why labor market policy needs to change course.

Successful project completion: From 2013 to the end of 2021, the VDMA worked to increase student success with its project "Maschinenhaus - Platform for Innovative Teaching" . The transfer projects were the largest subproject.