PEOPLE AND CULTURE
AVL employs more than 11,000 people around the world. As an
employer, the company has been performing well in independent
rankings for many years now. In an interview, Chief Human Resources
Officer Markus Tomaschitz reveals more about why this is.
Employees –
Value and
Appreciation
Mr. Tomaschitz, you have been head of the HR department at
AVL for nearly ten years now. What has changed during that
time?
Like the industry as a whole, we are also facing major transfor-
mative challenges in HR. The system change in mobility has
accelerated sharply. In addition to the conventional internal
combustion engine, there are now also new alternative drive
technologies, fuel cell development, battery technology, hybrid
models, and driver assistance systems. This has also changed
the job profiles at AVL. The traditional mechanical engineering
profile is still in demand, but chemistry, electrical engineering,
mechatronics, and IT are also gaining in importance as a re-
sult of the changes described. The classic job profiles remain,
but more interdisciplinary expertise is in demand these days.
For example, we need IT specialists to make cars safer and
machinists for our affiliate company Piezocryst Advanced
Sensorics GmbH. The power of IT may not always be visible,
but it is essential for modern mobility. Fortunately, at AVL we
already have many people who break the mold, creative lateral
thinkers, personalities with rough edges. We need these types
of characters because they are what make the difference. We
are looking for people who bring interdisciplinary talents and
want to actively shape the future of mobility.
What are the biggest challenges facing HR policy currently?
The shortage of skilled workers is the central issue that we will
no doubt be dealing with in the coming years and decades.
The baby boomers are currently retiring from the workforce.
In demographic terms, in Austria we now have more people
aged 64 and above than people of working age between 15
and 64. Around 50,000 more people retire than new workers
replace them each year, be that from schools, universities, or
technical colleges. Of course, this is a real problem wherever
very specific qualifications are required, like at AVL. Digitiza-
tion will certainly make a difference here, but it cannot replace
everything – we are already feeling and noticing that. Another
problem for Austria as a location is that customers often take
their orders to countries with an adequate workforce. The
keyword here being migration – this is another area in which it
is important to bring people with the appropriate qualifications
to Austria.
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