City Administrations in Focus: Vienna Conference on Human Resources
Demographic development, inflation, and international crises have an impact on all areas of our lives and bring new challenges for cities. Particularly in the area of human resources, cities must adapt to changing conditions and find new ways to attract and retain qualified personnel.
As part of the European City Conference "Employer City", the City of Vienna and its partners from numerous European and Austrian cities analyzed the opportunities and current challenges for city administrations in the area of human resources. / Picture: © Internationale Büros der Stadt Wien/Regina Hügli
To meet these challenges, international exchange and learning from each other is particularly important. One opportunity for this is the European Cities Conference, which takes place every year. At this year's conference, which is entitled "Employer City", the Vienna Offices, together with partners from the cities network, analyze current possibilities and opportunities for city administrations in the area of human resources.
Within the framework of the European City Conference "Employer City", the City of Vienna together with its partners from various European and Austrian cities analyzed the opportunities and challenges in the field of Human Resources. The conference provided a platform for international exchange on best practice examples, current developments in the labor market, and employees' expectations and career plans. The advantages of city administrations as employers were highlighted, such as the opportunity for lifelong careers in various fields, flexible working time models, a secure workplace, international job shadowing, and meaningful work.
The experts agreed that a positive work culture is of high importance for good performance and employee satisfaction. The speakers presented successful projects and programs to attract future employees, properly deploy and develop their talents, and inspire and retain them in the long term to work in the service of city residents. These include the Berlin Career Bus Program, Wiener Linien's "FiT - Women in Trades and Technology" program, and cooperative ventures with universities and (technical) colleges.
At the opening of the conference, KR Peter Hanke, City Councillor for Finance, Economy, Labor, International Affairs, and Vienna Public Utilities, emphasized the importance of close cooperation and constant transfer of know-how between European cities and regions, because of the enormous changes - from demographic to technological change - and political conflicts on our continent.
On the first day of the conference, the topics of recruitment, promotion, and leadership of employees were discussed in international panels. Best practice examples were presented and the important concept of employer branding was explained. Employer branding describes the branding of employers and is intended to position the company positively with potential employees.
The second day of the conference is dedicated to topics such as modern work models, trainee programs, and talent management. These are of great importance for cities to present themselves as attractive employers and to attract qualified personnel. It is also about developing working models that meet the needs of employees and enable a good work-life balance.
Overall, the "Employer City" conference provides an important platform for the exchange of best practice examples and new ideas in the field of human resources. Through international exchange, cities can learn from each other and further develop their human resources strategies to successfully meet the challenges of the future.
Dialog between European cities
The City of Vienna cooperates with its neighboring cities in various areas to develop a sustainable political dialogue as well as common solutions in a networked economic area. Since January 1, 2016, the International Offices of the City of Vienna, as a company of Wien Holding, have been responsible for the international positioning of Vienna as a European hub for dialogue, for "Government2Government" projects as well as for the public relations of the City of Vienna in Belgrade, Berlin, Budapest, Krakow, Ljubljana, Prague, Sarajevo, Sofia, and Zagreb.
The conference highlighted the challenges and opportunities for city administrations in the area of human resources. Well-functioning city administrations with their diverse tasks are essential for the daily care and quality of life of citizens. The City of Vienna presented successful projects and programs to strengthen its position as an employer in the labor market and thus ensure a high quality of life in European cities.