Frankfurt am Main/Berlin – Armin Schild (IG Metall) and Markus Schulz (Evonik Industries AG) have been appointed managing directors of the new association “Network for the Future of Industry.” The association was founded on June 4 in Berlin. Schild, previously district director of IG Metall’s Mitte district, and Schulz, previously head of Evonik Industries AG’s Berlin corporate representative office, will take over management of the association’s office over the course of the summer. IG Metall and the Federation of German Industries (BDI) announced this on Friday in Berlin.
The association “Netzwerk der Industrie e.V.” forms the operational level of the “Alliance for the Future of Industry,” which was launched in March 2015. At the alliance level, concrete agreements and measures to strengthen industrial competitiveness in Germany are to be decided upon through a tripartite collaboration between politicians, business associations, and labor unions.
The association “Netzwerk Zukunft der Industrie” is tasked with implementing the alliance’s measures at the operational level. These may include, for example, public awareness campaigns or scientific analyses of the processes of industrial transformation. The goal is to foster dialogue among academia, politics, the media, industry associations, and the general public regarding the future of industry.
The “Future of Industry” alliance is to develop, through five working groups, a coherent agenda for a medium- and long-term vision for industry in Germany: acceptance of industry, strengthening investment activity, the future of work in industry and industry-related services, value-added structures of the future, and the international competitiveness of German industry. The working groups have already begun their work.
Members of the “Network for the Future of Industry” association include the labor unions IG Metall, DGB, IG BAU, IGBCE, and NGG, as well as the employers’ and business associations BDI, BAVC, BDA, Gesamtmetall, HDB, VCI, VDA, VDMA, and ZVEI.
The résumés of Armin Schild and Markus Schulz can be found here.
Additional information on the “Future of Industry” alliance:
The goal of the “Future of Industry” alliance is to establish concrete agreements and priority measures through a tripartite partnership between policymakers, business associations, and labor unions in order to strengthen industrial competitiveness in Germany. With its unique blend of small and medium-sized, family-run businesses and large corporations, German industry forms the backbone of the German economy. In Germany, industry accounts for approximately 22 percent of total gross value added, some 100,000 companies with more than eight million employees, 86 percent of the business sector’s research and development spending, and roughly three-quarters of exports. Industry is thus a key driver of prosperity, growth, technological innovation, and future-proof jobs in Germany.
