Germany is facing a widening demographic gap. The baby boomers are reaching retirement age and we could soon have a shortfall of around ten million workers. How can we achieve a quantum leap in productivity to overcome this demographic crisis? And how can we harness digitalisation to promote innovation and good jobs?

These questions are very close to acatech’s heart. We want to contribute to opportunities for prosperity and employment through innovation. We have identified three themes as being particularly important to the future of work: agility, lifelong learning and a modern understanding of company-level co-determination.

In the future, we should have more faith in people and involve them in shaping their workplaces as responsible employees.

acatech President Dieter Spath

This view is shared by the HR directors of major German companies and academics who collaborate in acatech’s HR Working Group:

• An agile business organisation and agile working methods help companies to adapt faster in the digital transformation and strengthen their ability to innovate. At the same time, they offer employees more flexibility and individual choice.
• Lifelong learning is the key to boosting companies’ productivity and innovativeness while also enhancing both employees’ ability to perform their duties and their employability.
• Employees should have their own individual say in shaping the digital transformation. This will require a governance system that promotes a willingness to embrace change and creates the freedom to experiment.

STEM subject teaching in the education system is of vital importance, since these subjects are key to producing tech-savvy individuals who can share in the opportunities offered by new technological developments. The German STEM Forum (Nationales MINT Forum – website in German) brings together more than 30 leading institutions from academia and industry and a number of major foundations in order to promote better STEM education and secure the supply of skilled professionals in the STEM professions. Published by acatech and the Körber Foundation, the Barometer of Young Talents in the STEM Subjects (MINT Nachwuchsbaromter) is an annual report on the latest trends in this field.