YOUR FORUM FOR PLAY, SPORTS UND LEISURE AREAS
In times of a shortage of skilled labour, family-friendly policies give companies a distinct competitive edge when it comes to getting the best candidates. This was the unanimous opinion of companies, local authorities and organisations at a network conference of the federal initiative “local alliances for families” of the Federal Ministry of Family Affairs, Senior Citizens, Women and Youth on 25 October 2010 in Munich. The focus of the conference was innovative projects for an improved family-work balance.
“Local authorities and regions that make working mothers’ and fathers’ everyday lives easier possess clear advantages when it comes to coping with structural change. Skilled workers are going where they can make use of their professional skills and, at the same time, find good general conditions for their family,” stressed Dr. Hermann Kues, Parliamentary State Secretary in the Federal Ministry of Family Affairs.
“With innovative concepts for working parents, we are strengthening the link to families here on site and are improving the environment for regional companies. Family-friendly policies are indispensible for the long-term in Bavaria. Therefore, I will also support the work of the local alliances for families in the future,” stresses Prof. Erich Greipl, President of the Chamber of Industry and Commerce for Munich and Upper Bavaria.
According to a recent survey by the Bavarian Chamber of Industry and Commerce (in German: BIHK), about two thirds of the companies in Bavaria have vacant posts to fill. More and more companies and local authorities are therefore focussing on the location factor of family-friendly policies: Thus, nationwide around 80 percent of companies are of the opinion that family-friendly policies are important for their well-being. In more than 630 “local alliances for families” companies, local authorities, associations and child care establishments nationwide are working together to create flexible child care facilities for working parents. Further information is available at www.lbff.de.
(Federal Ministry of Family Affairs, Senior Citizens, Women and Youth on 25 October 2010)
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