Shortage of Skilled Workers? Companies Seek Women – and New Opportunities

An event in Düsseldorf aims to bring companies and women together directly. The focus is on career changers, re-entrants, and the question of how female employment potential can be better tapped for the labor market – not as symbolic politics, but as a response to noticeable staff shortages.

On Thursday, June 11, 2026, the working group "Strengthening Women's Employment" is organizing the format "Company Seeks Woman: Talking Together, Learning from Each Other – Women Change the Economy" at the Career Information Center (BiZ) of the Employment Agency Düsseldorf. Participation is free of charge for women; registration is required. In addition to exchange and discussion formats, childcare is also provided if needed. The goal is direct contact between employers and women who are reorienting themselves, returning after a break, or considering a training path.

Why This Is Relevant for Labor Market Policy

The idea addresses two realities that overlap in the everyday lives of many companies and employees: Many industries are looking for skilled workers – at the same time, people's employment wishes and skills remain unused because the framework conditions are not right.

How large this reserve can be is shown by a recent assessment from the Federal Statistical Office: For 2025, Destatis reports an unused labor potential of around 4.9 million people with a desire to work (almost 1.7 million unemployed plus around 3.2 million people in the "hidden reserve"). Women make up the majority in this hidden reserve (55.2 percent). Important reasons cited for women are factors related to caregiving responsibilities. This is the core of the problem: It is not just about "motivation," but about reliable structures that make gainful employment realistically possible.

There is also a second, often underestimated lever: If paid work does not pay off financially, it becomes a risky decision – especially with family obligations. Nationwide, the unadjusted gender pay gap in 2025 according to Destatis was still 16 percent; women earned an average of 22.81 euros gross per hour, men 27.05 euros. Such differences act in everyday life like a silent tax on employment biographies: Those who earn less have fewer opportunities for childcare, further training, or switching to better-paid jobs.

What Opportunities the Format Specifically Offers Women

The focus is on transitions: career change, re-entry, reorientation, or training. For many women, these are not abstract buzzwords, but concrete decision-making situations – often between the desire for professional development and the reality of time windows, care gaps, or the worry of not being able to reconnect after a break. The practical benefit of the format therefore lies less in glossy presentations and more in direct conversation: What working time models are actually possible? Which qualifications are accepted, which are promoted? How open are companies to non-linear career paths – and how is performance measured in the company when careers are not "from a single mold"?

Sigrid Wolf, DGB chairwoman and head of the working group, describes the aim as an exchange "at eye level" – with the dual objective of showing women concrete development paths and supporting companies in becoming more attractive to female employees.

Among the participating companies is Schulz & Sohn GmbH. Managing Director and Chief Financial Officer Mark Sethe classifies the topic of diversity as a component of modern corporate management and links participation in working life with competitiveness – especially in medium-sized businesses. Fabian Düesmann Larocque, Head of People & Culture, also emphasizes the importance of non-linear career paths: Breaks and changes often contain experiences that companies need in everyday life – for example, in communication, organization, or crisis resilience.

Such statements are more than image maintenance in times of tight applicant markets: Those who want to attract staff often have to address target groups that have not been reached so far – or who have deliberately decided against certain industries because working hours, pay, or culture did not fit. Whether this actually leads to more employment ultimately depends on binding offers: plannable shifts, part-time work with development prospects, further training, and the question of whether work pays off – not just on paper, but in the monthly budget.

What Is Planned in Düsseldorf on June 11

The event will take place on June 11, 2026, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. at the Career Information Center of the Employment Agency Düsseldorf, Grafenberger Allee 300, 40237 Düsseldorf. The program will be moderated by Tabea Schneider from the Düsseldorf Chamber of Crafts.

• 10:00 Check-in
• 10:30 Opening by the Taskforce for Work Düsseldorf
• 10:35 Welcome by Birgitta Kubsch-von Harten, Chairwoman of the Management Board of the Employment Agency Düsseldorf
• 10:45 Keynote by Dr. Lydia Malin from the Cologne Institute for Economic Research
• 11:00 Best-Practice Panel: "Career Change: Dead End or Career Booster?"
• 11:30 Presentation of the attending companies
• 11:45 Break with snacks
• 12:00 Round Tables – Themed tables for direct conversations
• 13:00 Come Together at the stands
• 13:40 Presentation of results including a raffle for a business photo shoot
• 14:00 End of the event

The journey is also described in detail:

• Public transport stop Schlüterstraße/Arbeitsagentur (lines U72, U73, U83, 709)
• Bus lines 725, 733, and 810

The following parking options are available:

• Back of the agency building (Ivo-Beucker-Straße)
• Residential area around the agency

The Düsseldorf event is therefore not a classic job fair, but a labor market-oriented networking format with a clear target group. Its core is direct exchange: companies are looking for staff, many women are looking for new career paths or re-entry. Whether this leads to concrete hires, training, or qualification plans will only become clear after the event – what will be decisive is which commitments companies translate into reliable conditions in the conversation.