In this project focus, the competence center is dedicated to the shortage of skilled workers and the enormous potential that women hold for the labor market. The Competence Center works closely with regional players in the labour market, including in the Alliance for Skilled Workers, acts as an information broker and highlights ways in which companies can better address, attract and retain women. Against the backdrop of demographic change, digitalization, decarbonization and deglobalization efforts, companies are facing more challenges than ever before, to which they need to respond quickly. In the next 15 years, for example, around 15.4 million workers will retire - this cannot be compensated for by the “new generation” of young people alone. Companies must increasingly abandon the idea of finding the “perfect fit” of skilled workers on the market “on time and on budget”. It is important to react creatively and flexibly to the changes - and to develop your own potential skilled workers through targeted on-the-job training for employees, for example. Here too, the Competence Center focuses on the untapped employment potential of women: They are often involuntarily working part-time . The Chief Economist of KfW, Dr. Fritzi Köhler-Geib, also states that the future depends to a large extent on how we shape the participation of women and older employees in the workforce, as well as immigration and needs-based job training.  However, the issue of equality does not only affect women. Depending on their professional background, men are also not always able to participate in family and care work to the extent they would like.

The compatibility of work and care work is one of the decisive arguments in the labor market for finding and retaining skilled workers in the long term. Small and medium-sized companies in particular often do not have their own HR department. The Competence Center for Women & Work supports SMEs in the region in making their culture more family-friendly and life-phase-oriented, communicating this to the outside world and thus making them competitive on the job market. In the “Netzwerk familienbewusste Unternehmen Bonn/Rhein-Sieg” - a network of around 80 companies - the Competence Center's team uses presentations, workshops and seminars (digital or analogue) to connect companies with each other and provide them with relevant information on balancing work and care work. After the admission process, member companies receive the “Member of the Bonn/Rhine-Sieg family-conscious companies network” award and are listed on the Competence Center's website with a link to their own web presence. The 34th meeting of the network took place in June, at which the focus was on developing topics and fields of action that could bring added value to the entire network for the current funding phase. 

New are the career workshops of the Competence Center on topics such as "Strong voice. Strong on the job!", "Taking the plunge - tackling career changes". The workshop "Gender as performance communication and body language" was offered on International Women's Day on March 8. The topics were well received, and the feedback from participants on the workshops was very positive.

With specialist presentations, workshops and online seminars, companies are informed and inspired in a variety of ways about the possibilities for supporting the work-life balance. The high numbers of participants in the many online formats in particular showed how well SMEs have been able to take advantage of the digitalization boost from the Corona pandemic, but also how great the need is for information on all aspects of family-conscious HR policy. One highlight was the cooperation event with the business development department of the city of Siegburg at the Rhein-Sieg Forum on the topic of potential consulting and employee development. Here it became clear how much the companies are again looking forward to the personal exchange.

An analysis of the 2022 census by the Federal and State Statistical Offices shows that around 39% of women in Bonn hold management positions, compared to 61% of men. In the Rhein-Sieg district, the ratio is 30 to 70 percent.

The Competence Center wants to ensure that there are “more” women in management positions and, with the one-year, free cross-mentoring program “mentoring4women”, is aimed at female specialists from SMEs who either aspire to a management position, want to consolidate their existing management role or want to develop into a specialist. The competence center provides the framework for the programme, organizes the events (kick-off/closing event and the mid-term meeting), acquires mentees and mentors and ensures a trusting exchange.

The aim is to support women in their personal development and to assist them with challenges in their professional advancement. “mentoring4women” has become a brand in the region. Supporters include the Bonn/Rhein-Sieg Chamber of Industry and Commerce, the Bonn/Rhein-Sieg District Crafts Association and the Cologne Chamber of Crafts. The next program will start for the fifth time in November 2024.

The Bonn/Rhine-Sieg Women & Career Competence Center has also set itself the goal of supporting female entrepreneurship in the region. The number of “female start-ups” is rising steadily throughout Germany, and young women in particular are opting to set up their own businesses. Numerous offers here in the region encourage women to start up and offer support during the start-up phase. In the current funding phase, the Competence Center is involved in the Bonn/Rhine-Sieg network of female advisors and, for example, organizes the Female Founders' Day in September together with the other cooperation partners. History shows that around a third of founders end their self-employment within the first five years, whether for family reasons, illness or simply because the income levels in an employment relationship are considered to be higher. The risk of giving up a young company after the third year of existence is particularly high for women. This is where the competence center comes in and is launching a mentoring program for the first time in 2025, focusing on younger existing companies - in particular female entrepreneurs between the third and fifth year after their foundation. The aim of the program is to network and support female entrepreneurs with mentors who have successfully founded their own businesses. 

The competence centers ensure - across all areas of life and work - a strong focus on women and their employment potential for the region. Even though many parties involved in the labour market have recognized these signs and developed offers specifically for women (AA, JC, HWK, IHK...), the focus of the competence center is on cooperating precisely here, passing on knowledge, pooling expertise and multiplying years of experience for the benefit of all labour market players and making the need for action visible. 

In the future, the competence centers in NRW want to cooperate even more closely and address their target groups with joint digital offers, regardless of regional priorities. One example of this is the Digital Skilled Workers Week in February 2025. The pooling of expertise and greater reach will ensure a higher degree of effectiveness. Competentia Cologne and Bonn/Rhine-Sieg will launch a new edition of the “Female Recruiting” guide in fall 2024.

Creating gender equality is a joint task. Sustainable change can only be achieved through the joint efforts of politics, society and companies. Equal participation of women in working life is essential if companies want to remain sustainable and competitive. The Women & Work competence centers make a decisive contribution to precisely this - they ensure “awareness” and the continuous sensitization of these topics.

Translated with DeepL.com (free version)