The project supports and strengthens the information, mutual communication and self-organized networking of qualified women in the district of Görlitz. Digital and analog offers are intended to sustainably increase the visibility of this group as well as their problems and potential.
The central aim of the project is to create new opportunities for action and participation by the (qualified) protagonists and to improve the perception of (structural, civil-social and economic) development opportunities by regional and established players. In addition, new ideas for gender-sensitive strategies and measures for securing and developing skilled workers in the region are to be developed and discussed with partners from business and administration.
In general, the Upper Lusatia region (and the district of Görlitz within it) will face serious challenges in the coming decades when it comes to securing and developing skilled workers. The situation in the region has been ambivalent for years. On the one hand, the unemployment rate in the Görlitz district is above the Saxon average; on the other hand, the number of vacancies is increasing and there are initial (and foreseeably increasing) bottlenecks in those sectors and qualification profiles that are particularly relevant for the region and its value creation dynamics. These include well-qualified and highly skilled workers in the ICT, energy, automotive and mechanical engineering, plastics, agriculture, healthcare and cultural and creative industries.
The increasingly problematic situation on the supply side is initially due to the massive exodus of young and qualified workers in the 1990s and early 2000s, with mainly young women leaving the region. In combination with the long period of below-average birth rates, this led to an age structure of the population in the region that now has one of the highest old-age dependency ratios in the whole of Germany. Above all, however, we have had to deal with a low level of immigration to the region for many years. This is concentrated in a few places (especially medium-sized towns such as Görlitz) and is highly selective in terms of the origin of the migrants (e.g. for Görlitz: Poles in the service sector). It is also unclear which of the working migrants have longer-term intentions and opportunities to stay.
In any case, the region is not only struggling with a demographic and economic problem of ageing skilled workers, but also with a gender asymmetry. In some rural communities, there are significantly fewer younger and middle-aged women than men. But that's not all. Women are still significantly underrepresented in important traditional key sectors with above-average pay (mining, energy, vehicle construction) as well as across the board at management levels in industry, commerce, but also in administration and the public education sector, just as they are overrepresented in sectors with below-average pay and in jobs below management level.
Parallel to this, a limited influx of women can be observed in certain sectors such as crafts, but also in the creative industries and agriculture, who initially identify favorable conditions in Upper Lusatia for pursuing their particular passions and career prospects (for example in arts and crafts or solidarity agriculture). Nevertheless, access barriers to the regional markets, unclear funding guidelines or high bureaucratic costs, as well as skeptical attitudes of potential partners or customers, quickly become apparent. Against this backdrop, many of the women not only articulate a need for support from politicians and business associations. Rather, they seek contact with women in similar situations and like-minded people in order to develop ideas together, integrate themselves into manageable communities and establish solidary relationships that connect them with life in rural regions.
The offers are aimed at qualified women, and equally at locals, returnees and newcomers in all phases of life: in training, studying and in the family and professional phase.
The digital platform "F wie Kraft" was developed and technically implemented in the previous project phases in order to communicate experiences, topics and offers across the district with the protagonists. In addition to regular portraits of women in all age and professional groups, the platform's information policy is supplemented by the presentation of dates and events that serve the exchange and alliance building of and for women.
The need for low-threshold advice for existing players has become clear in the last phases of the project. The initial establishment of a working group (Coordination Office for Career and Study Orientation/ Jobcenter, ImpulsRegio, HSZG) was a response to this, through which the proposed measures from the research are to be implemented. What support do those responsible need in order to implement gender-specific measures sustainably?
The project is funded by the Regional Skilled Workers Alliance of the district of Görlitz with funds from the SMWA/SAB.
Gabler, Julia (2019): Plug and Play or Work and Stay? -(New) employment and life perspectives for women in rural areas. In: Preising, Dagmar (ed.): Women in the world of work 4.0. De Gruyter Oldenbourg, pp. 420-436. https://www.degruyter.com/document/doi/10.1515/9783110588675-009/html
Equal Opportunities Officer of the district of Görlitz
Ines Fabisch
gleichstellungsbeauftragte(at)kreis-gr.de
03581 663-9009
The project in the FIS Research Information System of the HSZG
