Recruitment alone cannot solve the workforce crisis: Siemens' Global People & Culture Executive

For years, organisations have focused on closing skills gaps and competing for specialist talent. Sabine Schneider, Global People & Culture Executive at Siemens Limited, believes the conversation now needs to become much broader.

In an interview with People Matters, Schneider says labour shortages are emerging as an equally significant, if not greater, challenge than skills shortages, driven by demographic change, technological disruption and shifting employee expectations. Recruitment, she says, will not be enough.

Instead, organisations will need to rethink workforce planning around continuous learning, employability, workforce participation and long-term talent capacity rather than simply hiring for open roles.

Labour shortages are becoming a structural workforce challenge

According to Schneider, organisations are facing two workforce pressures simultaneously.

Traditional skills shortages continue to exist, while broader labour availability is tightening across many occupations.

She says organisations are also struggling to find emerging combinations of expertise, particularly where AI capabilities need to be combined with deep domain knowledge.

Rather than viewing this as a shift from one workforce problem to another, Schneider says employers need a broader response focused on ensuring sufficient future workforce capacity.

She notes that demographic trends are reducing the size of the available workforce across many economies, making recruitment alone an incomplete solution.

Instead, organisations need to focus on:

• Enhancing employability
• Embedding continuous learning
• Making better use of their diverse workforce
• Building long-term workforce capacity rather than addressing immediate vacancies

For Schneider, adaptability has become one of the defining capabilities organisations must build.

Why workforce availability is no longer just a hiring issue

Schneider believes workforce availability has evolved beyond a local recruitment challenge into a global strategic issue.

She identifies three structural forces reshaping labour markets worldwide:

• Demographic shifts and ageing populations
• Rapid technological and skills transitions
• Global labour market imbalances

She notes that while many economies are experiencing shrinking working-age populations, countries such as India continue to serve as important global talent hubs.

At the same time, industrial AI, automation and digitalisation are transforming jobs faster than many workforces can adapt.

According to Schneider, workforce availability increasingly depends on global capability, mobility and continuous reskilling, rather than local recruitment alone.

She also points to another important shift.

Previous generations typically entered a profession after formal education and gradually evolved within a relatively stable role. Future employees, however, are likely to experience repeated changes in the nature of their work, making continuous re-education and ongoing skills acquisition a permanent feature of working life.

Employees now value employability over job security

Schneider believes one of the biggest changes organisations continue to underestimate is how employees define career success.

She says the workforce is moving away from a traditional focus on job security towards long-term employability.

Employees increasingly expect:

• Purpose-driven work
• Greater flexibility
• Continuous professional development
• Investment in long-term employability

Rather than remaining within fixed job descriptions, employees want organisations to help them build skills that remain valuable throughout changing careers.

Schneider says this thinking is reflected in Siemens' global people strategy through its emphasis on skills-based mobility and lifelong learning.

She also highlights persistent participation gaps across the labour market.

Women, older workers and other underrepresented groups continue to face barriers to workforce participation.

For organisations, expanding these existing talent pools is becoming just as important as attracting new employees.

Technology can ease labour shortages, but it cannot replace workforce development

Schneider sees industrial AI, automation and digital twins as important tools for improving workforce productivity. She says these technologies can:

• Augment human capabilities
• Reduce dependence on highly specialised expertise
• Improve productivity
• Accelerate knowledge transfer
• Support faster problem solving on the shop floor

However, she cautions against viewing technology as a complete solution.

The same technologies also create demand for entirely new, higher-skilled roles responsible for implementing, operating and optimising AI, automation and digital systems.

According to Schneider, organisations must develop these new "facilitator" roles if technology is to deliver its full potential in addressing labour shortages.

Without sufficient investment in developing these capabilities, technology alone will have limited impact.

Workforce planning needs a fundamental reset

Schneider believes organisations need to move beyond traditional workforce planning models.

Instead of focusing on fixed job roles, she advocates ecosystem-based workforce strategies built around skills and organisational agility.

She says future workforce models should include:

• Internal talent marketplaces
• Greater job rotation
• Higher workforce mobility
• Continuous strategic learning
• Integration of global talent with local capabilities through digital platforms

The objective is to create organisations that are more resilient and adaptable while encouraging broader capability development rather than narrow specialisation.

She says Siemens reflects this approach through its emphasis on adaptability, reskilling and future-ready capability building.

Expanding workforce participation will become a business priority

Schneider believes employers have an increasingly important role in strengthening workforce participation.

She says organisations should:

• Adopt more inclusive hiring practices
• Offer flexible work models
• Strengthen partnerships with educational institutions
• Improve employability at scale

These measures, she says, can help bring more women, caregivers, older employees and other underrepresented groups into the workforce.

With demographic pressures expected to intensify globally, mobilising these talent pools will become increasingly important for sustaining labour supply.

For Siemens, Schneider says inclusion, skilling and access have become business imperatives supporting long-term growth.

Preparing for the next decade of work

Looking ahead, Schneider believes organisations will need to become far more proactive in preparing for structural labour market shifts.

Building future workforce capacity will require investment in employability, lifelong learning, inclusion and stronger connections between employers and educational institutions.

Recruitment will remain important, but Schneider believes it can no longer carry the weight of workforce strategy on its own.

As labour markets tighten and technology reshapes work, organisations that invest in adaptable people, broader workforce participation and continuous capability building are likely to be better positioned for long-term resilience.