Better economic education, more active teaching of financial careers and more flexible work arrangements - these are three of 28 demands that young people formulated as part of a nationwide online survey commissioned by the Working Group of German Financial Centers, GERMANY FINANCE, with a view to the financial industry as an employer.
GERMANY FINANCE has published the results of a nationwide online survey on its website germany-finance.com. The focus was on the question “What should the German financial sector do so that more young people want to work in this area?” In the past few weeks, 4,744 participants between the ages of 15 and 35 submitted 605 suggestions and voted on these suggestions more than 48,000 times.
Social and data scientists from the commissioned CivicTech organization Make.org evaluated the suggestions and votes in collaboration with the team from the Düsseldorf Institute for Internet and Democracy at the University of Düsseldorf and condensed them into 28 topics in six fields of action.
Early imparting of economic knowledge
From the perspective of those surveyed, education and information are particularly suitable for increasing the attractiveness of the financial industry as an employer and thus counteracting the shortage of young talent. The proposal to impart economic knowledge at school received an approval rate of over 80 percent, combined with concrete ideas such as visits from industry representatives, workshops or the introduction of a “household subject”. In addition, age-appropriate teaching of financial topics is required.
Under the umbrella term “social perception,” a large number of suggestions are being made to communicate career paths and options transparently. This includes transparency about professional fields, working conditions and tasks as well as increased information about earnings, entry and promotion opportunities. The best way to convey the information is controversial among respondents. Suggestions for more social media activity in the industry or a presence in schools are viewed as controversial.
A third focus of the suggestions made is in the area of work organization. Through their suggestions and their positive assessment, the young people surveyed make it clear that free organization of individual working hours, alternative working time models, flexible vacation arrangements as well as remote work and home office are important to them.
Discussion events on the results
With the points mentioned and many other detailed suggestions, from improving the image to remuneration and entry and promotion opportunities, the study makes a valuable contribution to the development of measures by the financial industry to address the shortage of young talent and skilled workers. In the next few weeks, the results will be discussed and discussed in greater depth at events at German financial centers with the involvement of young professionals and representatives from finance, politics and administration.
Read the survey results report here.
