Skilled Labor Shortage? Companies Seek Women – and New Paths

A Düsseldorf networking event aims to bring companies and women together directly – with a focus on career changers, re-entrants, and training. The approach is economically relevant because it links acute staffing needs with a labor force potential that in many places has not yet been sufficiently tapped.

On June 11, 2026, the working group "Strengthening Women's Employment" will host the event "Company Seeks Woman: Talking Together, Learning from Each Other – Women Change the Economy" at the Career Information Center (BiZ) of the Düsseldorf Employment Agency. The free event (10 am to 2 pm) focuses on personal exchange with employers who want to position themselves as attractive employers for female employees. The venue is the Düsseldorf Employment Agency, Grafenberger Allee 300, 40237 Düsseldorf.

Networking Instead of Pure Information

The focus is not only on advice, but on practical matching: women are to meet companies that are specifically looking for candidates for entry, re-entry, or career change – and companies are to receive immediate feedback on what conditions actually make a change realistic.

Sigrid Wolf, chairwoman of the DGB in Düsseldorf and head of the working group, describes the aim as an exchange "at eye level." Women should see concrete options for career change, re-entry, reorientation, or training – and employers should recognize how they can design jobs so that they are truly accessible to women.

The working group is part of the Düsseldorf Taskforce for Employment. According to the organizers, partners involved include IHK Düsseldorf, Düsseldorf Chamber of Crafts, DGB City Association Düsseldorf, Jobcenter Düsseldorf, Düsseldorf Employment Agency, Competentia DUS|ME, as well as the Düsseldorf and Surroundings Entrepreneurs' Association; the Office for Gender Equality and Anti-Discrimination of the City of Düsseldorf is also involved.

Securing Skilled Labor Meets Structural Barriers

The need for skilled workers in Germany is often described as a blanket shortage – but the data paints a more nuanced picture. In its 2025 skilled labor shortage analysis, the Federal Employment Agency identifies 157 shortage occupations nationwide and emphasizes: there is no general labor shortage across the board, shortages are occupation- and region-specific. Particularly affected are, among others, nursing and medical professions as well as construction and craft trades; education, gastronomy, and professional driving are also regularly cited as shortage fields.

This is exactly where the Düsseldorf format comes in: not the big labor market formula, but the concrete fit is the focus. When companies want to fill open positions in shortage areas, it is often not enough to simply demand "more applications." What matters is whether working hours, wage levels, qualification paths, and compatibility models are designed so that entry or re-entry is actually possible.

That the income question is also central is shown by official figures: according to the Federal Statistical Office, the unadjusted gender pay gap in 2025 was 16 percent. For many women, this affects not only the job question but also securing their livelihood – especially when responsibility for children or care tasks is added. The event text addresses this reality and derives the demand that flexible working conditions and living wages are not "extras" but prerequisites for labor force participation.

Added to this is structural change: digitalization and the transformation towards more climate-friendly processes are changing activities, qualification profiles, and job descriptions. Events like this try to draw a practical consequence from this: further training, switching careers, and new career paths should not be exceptions, but negotiated as a normal part of modern working biographies.

Program Focuses on Practice and Direct Contact

The schedule is closely oriented to company practice and combines impulses, discussion, and conversations at topic tables. The program is moderated by Tabea Schneider (Düsseldorf Chamber of Crafts). The following are planned:

• 10:00 am: Check-in
• 10:30 am: Opening and welcome by the Düsseldorf Taskforce for Employment
• 10:35 am: Welcome by Birgitta Kubsch-von Harten, Chairwoman of the Management Board of the Düsseldorf Employment Agency
• 10:45 am: Keynote by Dr. Lydia Malin (German Economic Institute Cologne)
• 11:00 am: Panel discussion "Career Change: Dead End or Career Booster?"
• 11:30 am: Introduction of the attending companies
• 11:45 am: Break with snacks
• 12:00 pm: Round-tables at topic tables (exchange between participants and companies)
• 1:00 pm: Come Together at the stands
• 1:40 pm: Presentation of results and raffle of a business photo shoot
• 2:00 pm: End

Among the participating companies is Schulz & Sohn GmbH. Managing Director and Chief Financial Officer Mark Sethe says: "Equality and diversity are not special topics for us, but self-evident aspects of modern corporate management. Economic success arises where people are given fair opportunities, take on responsibility, and can contribute their perspectives." Fabian Düesmann Larocque, Head of People & Culture, adds: "Many career paths today are no longer linear. But it is precisely in this that valuable experiences and perspectives often lie."

The event is free of charge for participants; childcare is offered if needed. This is more than just an organizational detail: anyone talking about participation must at least consider everyday access barriers – otherwise, "networking" remains accessible only to those who already have the greatest time flexibility.

Travel information is also part of the concept: the public transport stop Schlüterstraße/Arbeitsagentur is mentioned; tram lines U72, U73, U83, 709 and bus lines 725, 733, 810 are listed. Parking is available at the rear of the agency building (Ivo-Beucker-Straße) and in the residential area around the agency.

The event thus connects two levels: short-term staffing shortages in individual professions and the long-term question of how women can more easily enter employment or start new careers. Whether this will immediately lead to hires cannot be promised in advance. However, the core of the format is clear: companies and potential employees should not meet through abstract demands, but check in direct conversation what makes entry possible – and what needs to change for that to happen.