Meconomy - Markus Albers

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least job beginners – who are currently confronting hiring freezes and questionable employment conditions everywhere – have to be particularly creative now. At the moment, a whole wave of highly qualified and highly motivated people is entering the job market. These people won’t find a job that suits their needs just like that. They will be put on hold several times, and that’s when they will come up with the idea to try something new. If there was an unlimited number of steady jobs with good pay until retirement available, I’m sure that many young professionals would be happy to accept them. However, due to structural changes and the current economic crisis, the situation is different. That’s why people will have to use all of their energy and creativity in order to get by – this is the central challenge to each individual.

      What does that mean in numbers?

      Eichhorst: On the one hand, our surveys show that, after all, 55 percent of working people still have permanent full-time jobs and that this percentage hasn’t been decreasing dramatically at all in recent years. Besides, the overall number of available jobs is higher than it was five or ten years ago. Thus, the labor market is bigger than it was in the past. Many women and previously unemployed people have entered the market as well. We consider a relatively stable proportion to have additional employment opportunities as freelancers, temporary workers, or part-time workers. On the other hand, transitional phases at career entry levels have become longer. Today, many high-skilled people initially work as trainees or interns, acquire additional qualifications, or have temporary work contracts. Starting a career this way has become normal for most of them. You could say that they perceive it as an extended probationary period.

      Thus, soon everything will be as it was before the crisis?

      Eichhorst: No. The burden of the adjustments to come will not only be carried by the margin – by which I mean part-time workers or job beginners – but also by the core of the labor market. People working for classic large-scale employers such as Opel, Quelle, Schaeffler, or Märklin are very likely to get laid off sooner or later. Jobs that were considered crisis-proof for a long time are disappearing now, and they won’t become available again to the extent that we have become used to. Thus, the structural change rather will be accelerated by the crisis. Both the mailorder business and the manufacturing sector are shrinking rapidly. The car industry – a sector that used to be relatively viable in Germany – is currently undergoing a painful reduction in size. Similar developments have recently become visible in the financial services sector. For employees, this results in a greater necessity to switch to other occupational areas, including the service sector.

      Do more people in Germany start their own businesses today?

      Eichhorst: This trend can be confirmed. However, Germany lags behind other nations in this respect due to our tradition of socially secure, permanent employment relationships and the widespread longing for public sector employment. Besides, up to now, it wasn’t really necessary to deal with this issue due to the relatively good condition of the job market. Recently, starting your own business has been rehabilitated and it has also received public support. Just think of the “Me Incorporated” phenomenon: Particularly in the creative industry and in the media business, this has become one of the dominant models. In any case, major cities like Berlin, Cologne, Hamburg, or Munich have virtually become “laboratories” where these trends can be observed earlier and have grown more prevalent than in other regions.

      Does all of this also imply a chance? Historically speaking, many big brands and products were created during times of crisis…

      Eichhorst: I agree. It is certainly possible that, just now, business ideas are being developed and companies are being established – either due to sheer necessity or due to opportunity – that we might be well familiar with ten years from now. However, I somewhat doubt that Germany provides the right basis or sufficient starting points for the emergence of something like this.

      What is missing?

      Eichhorst: Most notably, we need adequate support for founders of new businesses. Moreover, our educational system does not put enough emphasis on, e.g., the development of sustainable ideas in colleges…

      …which isn’t the case in the United States.

      Eichhorst: Exactly. The economic stimulus packages provided by the German government, however, focus on rather conservative things like scrapping incentives, road construction costs, or short-term employment – in short: things that essentially serve to slow down structural change.

      What exactly should our government do instead?

      Eichhorst: It should invest more money into the support of smaller businesses that are being established at the moment. This would result in more positive multiplier effects other than financing businesses that, sooner or later, shrink or disappear anyway.

      Which fields should receive financial support?

      Eichhorst: Energy efficiency, intelligent buildings, new forms of energy generation, modern solutions in the field of traffic engineering, education, research…and, most notably, innovative concepts in the field of healthcare – which is another sector that has antiquated administrative structures in Germany but offers enormous innovation and business potential.

      How Digital Natives Change the Working World

      Around the globe, experts are observing the current fundamental changes in the working world. One of them is Alexander Greisle, who formerly worked for the Fraunhofer-Institut für Arbeitswirtschaft und Organisation (Fraunhofer Institute for Work Management and Organization). Today, he runs his own business, consulting clients such as the European Union, Bayer AG, and Allianz in the development and implementation of new management and office concepts. Greisle publishes regularly on, as he puts it, “trends in the working world, providing information workers with tips and dealing with the information society.” Probably the most important trend that not only Greisle has come across is the way in which so-called “Digital Natives” redefine work. This generation that has grown up with the Internet and cell phones is being courted by market researchers, scientists, and human resources representatives like no other group. How they work and communicate, what they expect of their bosses and colleagues, whether they still go to the office at all, which technologies they would like to find there, and what products they are interested in – all of this is currently being discussed at countless congresses, workshops, and camps.

      As a consultant, Greisle does not shy away from contact with people. He has already interviewed many members of this generation and was able to find out what makes these new professionals tick. His basic assumption is that Digital Natives naturally integrate technical possibilities into their everyday lives: “They wouldn’t even think of viewing the Internet as some more or less strange ‘add-on to real life’,” explains Greisle. “They consider it quite absurd that surveys on the frequency of Internet use are still being conducted.”

      Moreover, the numerous possibilities of communication and collaboration that they make use of on a daily basis seem to effortlessly fit into their individual work lives. “Interpreting this solely as the result of software and technical skills definitely misses the point,” says Greisle. “What we are talking about here is a change in work culture.” He highlights the following crucial points:

       High-level networking is a necessity in everyday business – both at home and at the office – as it reduces spatial and temporal boundaries.

       Collaborative tools – from chats to web office suites – belong to everyday life.

       Extensive social networks are more reliable than colleagues you don’t know – even if all of these networks are virtual.

       Research things instead of trying to memorize them. There is much more information available than could ever be memorized. Instead, search and find.

       Try it yourself. Don’t be afraid to try new possibilities and to question limitations.

       Develop a solution out of different components instead of reinventing the wheel.

       Question recommendations and gather additional information.

       Communicate

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