Labour Market Engagement Trends: Degree or Skills?
As we move to the close of Q3 and many of us are returning to the office after the mid-year break, we are excited to share with you the latest edition of our newsletter.
This month’s edition of More Than Work contains articles focused on labour market engagement trends, with our brand ambassadors addressing issues ranging from social justice in the workplace to speculation on whether future work qualifications will be degree- or skills-driven. Plus, other ambassadors in our team look at how AI is changing personnel selection and how to avoid labour market exclusion for younger generations.
ACTIVITY UPDATE: What's going on in Gi Group Holding
Global Banking Day 2024 hosted at Gi Group Holding HQ in Milan
As part of the events to celebrate our 2024 Global Banking Day, we opened our doors to our esteemed financial partners at our headquarters in Milan to unveil our financial highlights and showcase how Gi Group Holding is leading the way in creating value for individuals and businesses alike.
Our CEO & Founder, Stefano Colli-Lanzi , alongside other key leaders such as Barbara Bruno , Domiziano Pontone , Tamara Schenk and Nicola Dell'Edera , had the opportunity to showcase how we are working together towards a more inclusive and sustainable future of work for all.
In financial year 2023, Gi Group Holding reported revenues of €3.9 billion, marking a 6.4% increase over the previous year, with a further acceleration of performance in foreign countries outside Italy (+11.3% y/y). Thanks to the successful business management and great effort by our employees, profitability improved with a gross profit of €559 million (+10% vs FY2022) and a gross margin of 14.2% (up from 13.8% in 2022).
Watch the recap video and read about our 2023 financial results.
Launch of Gi Life Sciences
We recently launched Gi Life Sciences, our specialised division that is part of the Gi Group Holding ecosystem, focused on connecting leading life sciences companies with top-tier talent.
Gi Life Sciences specialises in delivering tailored, sector-specific recruitment and workforce solutions to meet the unique needs of the Pharma, Biotech, Fine Chemicals and Medical Devices industries.
Our team of recruitment consultants, many of whom are scientists by education, understands the specificities of the life sciences market and connects you with top-tier, hard-to-find talent.
Whether you are looking for top scientists, clinical professionals, operational workers or other supporting functions, Gi Life Sciences has you covered.
Gi Group Holding represented at the International Labour Organisation's Social Justice Forum
We are delighted to have been represented at the International Labour Organization's Inaugural Forum of the Global Coalition for Social Justice in Geneva.
Our Chief Public Affairs Officer, Antonio Bonardo, was among the delegates from over 250 partners of the Global Coalition for Social Justice that attended the 112th Session of the International Labour Organization Conference at the Palais des Nations in Geneva, Switzerland.
Antonio's participation in this important forum highlights Gi Group Holding's commitment, as a corporate partner, to social justice and creating a more inclusive workplace for all.
Spotlight on HP: Motivational Drivers in the IT Industry
We had the honour of sitting down with Delia Pesenti , HR Director for Italy at HP, for an insightful interview on the HR trends shaping the IT industry.
Operating in more than 170 countries, HP delivers a wide range of innovative and sustainable devices, services and subscriptions for personal computing, printing, 3D printing, hybrid work, gaming, and more.
In this series, Delia shared her wealth of knowledge and experience in the field of human resources, shedding light on the factors that motivate IT professionals, the role of technology in transforming the HR landscape, as well as emphasising the importance of fostering a positive company culture for employees to thrive.
Spotlight on SKODA: Transporting a Workforce
As a leading rolling stock manufacturer, Škoda Group is at the forefront pushing the boundaries with innovation and sustainability, while offering public transportation vehicles that deliver both performance and efficiency.
Due to the war in Ukraine, where Škoda Group usually sources employees, the company needed to pivot to Indonesia, to source polytechnic students for work on its projects in the Czech Republic.
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In this series, Vlastimil Václavík , HR Project Manager for Škoda Group, spoke with Gi Group Holding ’s Chief Corporate Sales Officer, Domiziano Pontone, about how both companies partnered together to successfully bring nearly 250 workers to the Czech Republic in only five months.
2023 Sustainable Work Report
At Gi Group Holding , our passionate people are driven by a clear purpose: to contribute to the evolution of the Labour Market through our daily work and to embrace the ambitious opportunity – and responsibility – to change people’s lives for the better.
Inspired by our Sustainable Work framework, we create a virtuous process of continuous improvement with strategic, complementary actions targeting People, Companies and Society & Institutions.
In 2023, we made our largest acquisition to date: the European Staffing business of Kelly, a leading global specialty talent solutions provider. This milestone allowed us to welcome around 1,000 new colleagues from 14 different countries, which we officially celebrated together at the beginning of this year. Over the past 26 years, we have made 51 acquisitions, each contributing to our journey to create a sustainable, streamlined and fulfilling global market for candidates and companies.
LEADERSHIP INSIGHTS: What's new in the World of Work
Social progress is a necessary element for continued economic prosperity
We are approaching the first half-year mark since Gi Group Holding joined the International Labour Organization -backed Global Coalition for Social Justice which was launched at the start of 2024.
Our Ambassador Antonio Bonardo , who is also the World Employment Confederation Europe Vice-President, regularly makes posts and speaks about this initiative, but in a recent article he took time to rewind a bit and provide some deeper explanations about why the Coalition’s activities are important to building a better future World of Work. This includes support for more human-centric policy-making in the regulatory space.
In the article, you can read his clarifications on what a more socially just global labour market looks like: from boosting global employment levels to encouraging more active search for jobs among persons who have given up on hunting for work on to fighting for more dignified conditions for employment worldwide. The broader, long-term goal is to build a global Care Economy.
Skills vs. degrees: does the World of Work need a new career educational model?
Discussions heated up last year when it came to considerations by various economic experts for how actors in the labour market skill and train people for future work roles. Throughout most of 2023, stakeholders paid a lot of attention to skills-based education and why the need for career-long learning will reshape how youth, and even older job candidates, prepare to succeed in new roles.
This got our Ambassador Daniele Merlerati to thinking about whether educational and training institutions need a new paradigm for career-based learning. In his article, he explores why we might need to adapt our preference for degree-focused learning to a more skills-focused model where education feeds into demand for talent from businesses. Likewise, he looks at whether traditional (longer) degree programmes can keep up with increasingly agile labour markets and ever-changing skills requirements; or even a shift toward career-long learning and multiple iterations of a person’s professional life over time, e.g., a career in 3-4 acts.
AI in HR processes. Where are we headed?
Artificial intelligence (AI) is here to stay by all indications. Per the latest McKinsey & Company Global Survey on AI, 65% of organisations and businesses interviewed report that they are already actively integrating generative AI technologies into their operating processes. This number has doubled over the past 10 months.
The question on the mind of our Ambassador Tiziano Rodolfo Roseto is how does this rapid Gen AI adoption impact the recruitment and staffing industries and the HR function in many companies. While, per McKinsey, businesses are most commonly implementing Gen AI in marketing roles and services (34%), followed by product and service development (27%), HR services lag a bit behind (12%).
The key to successful integration of AI and the possibilities it offers businesses (including HR departments) for boosting performance and outputs, comes from a Triple P approach: leveraging AI tools to monitor Performance; integrating AI into organisational Processes to boost efficiency and improve time management; and using data gathered by AI to enhance the Personalisation of information and service delivery to boost team cohesion and engagement. Read more in the article.
Challenges to youth unemployment and a satisfied cohort of Gen Z workers
Younger worker cohorts in the Gen Z age category have entered the labour market during a perfect storm when technological disruption thanks, to tools like AI, and a volatile global economy are stifling their prospects for achieving satisfaction and prosperity in ways that previous generations did not encounter to such a strong degree.
In this article, our Ambassador Paolo Caramello looks at specific life and macroeconomic factors that shape Gen Z views on actively seeking employment and what work offers they accept. Stats from the US show that younger Gen Z labour market entrants earn 10-13% less than what their Millennial peers did in their first jobs. This, at times, discouraging reality has the potential to boost the prevalence of NEETs (persons Not in Employment, Education or Training) on global job markets if access to better paying, more secure jobs cannot be achieved.
Institutions like the World Economic Forum suggest that investment into reskilling and tech upskilling in areas like AI can help prevent growth in numbers of NEETs and overall growth in the 'why bother' syndrome when it comes to career planning.
Conclusion ...
These conversations are part of a broader picture involving many moving parts that make up today’s changing world of work, but which hopefully come together to create a global job market where all workers have a chance at self-fulfilment and self-realisation.
While we raise these conversations, we would also love to encourage our readers to consider what we can all do to make a more socially just World of Work and labour markets that function for everyone.
New Business Development, Key Account Management, Dynamic and results-oriented Executive Management Assistant , Foreign trade Professional
1moboth . but which degree : on line or bought ? In Italy the level of education is very low and everytime lower and lower. How a translater can translate (form German into Italian ) the word Bundesrealgymnasium . In Italian is licero scentifico federale but the translater translated Liceo reale federale . Or the receptionist at the Hilton of Triest told us we could not go in as : l'evento è privatizzato. This is the Italian education!!!!!!! I think somewhere is harder and harder and nobody (in Italy ) how it is so diffucolt to learn and study in Austria or in Germany
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2moGreat Team 👍🏻
Co-Founder @ Adway 📲 Automated Social Recruitment Marketing
2moLove how you’re kicking off the week with some rich insights! Always good to stay ahead of the trends. Definitely going to dive into this edition to see what Antonio, Daniele, Tiziano, and Paolo have to say about the future of work! 🔎 And you already know, if they’re dropping knowledge, I’m all ears.