HUSUM WindEnergy News - One million people will be employed in the German wind industry by 2030

As well as the technological and energy-related issues, the focus of interest at the forthcoming HUSUM WindEnergy, from 21 to 25 September will be especially on the wind industry labour market. According to a study by Hamburg-based TGMC Management Consulting GmbH, many managers currently fear that not only can the current demand for employees not be satisfied, but will also not be satisfied in the future. This is confirmed by an online survey carried out in recent months.

Dr. Heinz R. Uekermann of TGMC sees the reasons for this being due to two main factors: “Firstly, in the technical areas staff in some cases being are urgently needed. On the other hand the wind industry is only able to convince potential employees of the great attractiveness of the industry to a limited degree”.

There is a great need for employees. Based on the net product of € 500bn by 2030 forecast by VDMA, Uekermann expects that in 2030 a million people will be working in the wind industry in Germany alone. This will justify the wind industry’s reputation as a job motor. This sunrise industry currently employs around 120,000 people.

Highly satisfied employees with a high level of identification with the industry:
Marie-Louise Bornemann, Vice President People & Culture Vestas Central Europe, confirms from the experience of past years that the wind industry employs a large number of young and highly educated people who work “with ambition, a high level of motivation, and a willingness to be mobility”. According to Bornemann, enterprises in the wind industry face three main challenges. The first challenge is to manage the growth and dynamics of current development. The Vestas workforce has grown from 3,500 in 2000 to almost 22,000 today worldwide. Bornemann explains their successful personnel management by saying that “Over the past few decades Vestas has been able to control and manage this enormous growth with all its challenges by simultaneously establishing and further developing organisational structures and continuously expanding its industry and product specific know-how”.

The second challenge is to steer development and innovation in a planned and dedicated manner. This particularly affects the promotion of young talent and training. Since 2006 Vestas has been able to win over 187 young graduates worldwide from 27 nations. 85 percent of these are still with Vestas today. And that other “young people, who have taken advantage of both the technically and commercially oriented dual courses of study, also tend to stay with the company a long time. We have been able to keep around 75 percent of this group with the company long term”.

The third future issue is about being able to adequately handle future challenges. Besides personnel management in line with market and time requirements, development will also “depend on political decisions and developments in the finance industry. In addition, one focus is certainly the innovative power of enterprises in the wind industry, and the training and further qualification of employees”. Especially this last item is the greatest challenge. “For the near future we have also set ourselves the task of getting more young women interested in technical training and degree courses”, explains the personnel vice-president.

Windcareer on 25 September expects 4,000 visitors:
With an eye on the Windcareer job fair on 25 September, which is being held as part of the world’s most important trade fair for technology and innovation in the wind industry, Hanno Fecke, managing director of Messe Husum, adds that “30 enterprises will be taking advantage of this wind industry job hub to meet potential employees parallel to their main exhibition stands. We are expecting around 4,000 people who are interested in getting a job in this industry, or who are interested in changing jobs”.

“We are overjoyed that Prof. Dr. Annette Schavan has accepted the patronage for Windcareer. The job fair is a partner of Science Year 2010 – The Future of Energy”. The Science Years are an initiative started by the German ministry of education and research. They are organised by Wissenschaft im Dialog (Science in Dialogue) and the Helmholtz-Gemeinschaft Deutscher Forschungszentren (Helmholz Association of German Research Centres). It grants access to the world of research to everyone, especially children and young adults. For the first time, there will be interdisciplinary focus on issues that will in future be decisive for life. This is where the research sector can and should make its contribution, comprehensively, interdisciplinarily and systematically.

Referring to the WindCommunity platform at www.husumwindenergy.com, Fecke supports the perception in enterprises that there are at present relatively few applicants for a large number of job offers. “On our job platform there were 210 job offers compared with 30 job seekers”.

A workshop is being held in the Husum Congress Centre on 25 September from 10:00 to 16:00, which will present ways of entering the industry and the job prospects it offers. “Personnel managers from enterprises will be presenting job profiles and specifications, and experts will be offering up to date information on industry-specific training and retraining opportunities”.

Job opportunities in climate protection:
Prof. Dr. Claudia Kemfert, head of energy, transport, and environment at the Deutschen Institut für Wirtschaftsforschung (DIW) and professor for energy economy at the Hertie School of Governance forecasts that series production and technological optimisation will increasingly find their place in wind industry enterprises. “No-one can profit from the boom in the green industry more than German industry, such as the expansion of energy efficiency, energy storage, intelligent data and energy networks, innovative power plant and drive technologies”. Claudia Kemfert, who is also a topic ambassador for “Science Year 2010 – The Future of Energy”, emphasises that an increasing number of universities are offering training. “This is why it is especially important that training in energy professions such as industrial mechanics, mechatronic technicians, production mechanics, construction mechanics or plastics technicians, is strengthened and further expanded.

Enterprises will be successful in the market economy if they “master the main challenges posed by climate change and the sustainable way we deal with energy and resources. Especially after the negative experiences in the finance markets, investors will be especially careful of where they put their money. Businesses that invest in sustainability today, will emerge stronger from the crisis”.

From 21 to 25 September over 950 exhibitors, compared to 743 in 2008, and an expected 30,000 visitors, the exhibition grounds – which have been enlarged 40% bigger to 43,000 sq m – will be the centre of the global wind industry. HUSUM WindEnergy is organised by Messe Husum in cooperation with Hamburg Messe. The leading trade fair for the international wind industry from 21 to 25 September will be accompanied by a congress (21 to 24 September) and the Windcareer job fair (25 September). it is under the joint patronage of the federal minister for economic affairs and technology, Rainer Brüderle, the federal minister for the environment, nature protection and nuclear safety, Norbert Röttgen, the federal minister for education and research, Prof. Dr. Annette Schavan, for Windcareer, and the minister-president of Schleswig-Holstein, Peter Harry Carstensen.

More information at www.husumwindenergy.com.

For enquiries:
Klaus Lorenz
Press Officer HUSUM WindEnergy
Tel.: +49 (0) 2182-5 78 78-0
eMail: lorenz@husumwindenergy.com

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