Skilled labour for the Uckermark

Securing a skilled workforce is the principal objective of the Uckermark Skilled Labour Network. This network brings together public sector officials involved in regional employment who are committed to the development and future of the Uckermark as a business location, and are trying to find medium and long-term solutions to the problems of securing a skilled workforce.

The network, whose speaker is Dr. Dagmar Brendel, Head of Eberswalde Employment Agency, is keen to provide active support to employers in the region on issues concerning this very problem area. The network was established mainly as a result of demographic trends and their known repercussions. For instance, the number of school-leavers in the Barnim-Uckermark region declined from some 4,000 in 1990 to barely 2,500 in the year 2010.

The network's inaugural meeting was held in April 2008. Its founder members were: the administrative district of the Uckermark, Eberswalde Employment Agency, the municipalities of Angermünde, Prenzlau, and Schwedt/Oder, the East Brandenburg division of the Federation of German Trade Unions, East Brandenburg Chamber of Trade and Industry, Frankfurt (Oder) Chamber of Commerce – East Brandenburg Region, Eberswalde University of Applied Sciences, Brandenburg Agency for Structural Development and Employment (LASA) and the ZukunftsAgentur Brandenburg (RegionalCenter Eberswalde). Eberswalde Education Authority and the ICU Investor Center Uckermark GmbH joined the network in 2009.