The Future of Profession and Labour: What will remain? What will change?
city2science facilitates Oberhausen Labour Market Conference 2026
What does it mean to have a profession in a world of work that is constantly changing? This is the central question of the Oberhausen Labour Market Conference on 16 September 2026 at Zentrum Altenberg. city2science is contributing to the concept and programme of the conference and will moderate the event.
Artificial intelligence and digitalisation are changing jobs, tasks and skills. At the same time, demographic change and skills shortages are reshaping the labour market, career paths are becoming less linear, and expectations towards employers are evolving. Amid all this change, the conference turns its attention to something that has traditionally provided both structure and orientation: the idea of a profession itself.
Under the title “The Future of Profession and Labour: What will remain? What will change?”, the Oberhausen Labour Market Conference explores whether our traditional understanding of professions still reflects the realities of working life – and what might take its place in the future. At the heart of the event is a question that reaches well beyond individual jobs or the latest technological developments: What needs to change in the way we work – and what is valuable enough that we should make sure it stays?
The discussion deliberately goes beyond the impact of new technologies. What will vocational education and training need to provide in the future? Which skills will become more important? How can flexibility and security be reconciled? What does a younger generation expect from working life? And how can employers, policymakers and cities help people navigate professional change without losing orientation along the way?
Bringing different perspectives together
The conference will open with a keynote by Prof. Dr. Armin Nassehi of Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich. Drawing on his work on social transformation, digitalisation and complexity, he will provide a broader sociological perspective on changing worlds of work and life – and on the role that established institutions such as professions can continue to play within them.
The conference then brings together perspectives that do not necessarily arrive at the same answers.
Dr. Dorothea Voss from the Institute for Work, Skills and Training at the University of Duisburg-Essen will contribute a research perspective on changing tasks, skills and human–AI collaboration. Frederik Paul from the Confederation of German Employers’ Associations will address the challenges from an employer perspective, while Claudia Hägele from TBS NRW, the Technology Advisory Centre of the German Trade Union Confederation in North Rhine-Westphalia, will focus on employees, working conditions and qualification.
Maren Behlau from the Ministry of Labour, Health and Social Affairs of North Rhine-Westphalia will add the labour market and education policy perspective. Leon Pfau, Chair of the Youth and Trainee Representation of the City of Oberhausen, will bring the expectations and experiences of a younger generation into the conversation.
And Michael Jehn, Head of Department for Citizen Services, Public Order, Human Resources and IT at the City of Oberhausen, will bring the discussion back to the local level: What does the changing world of work mean for a city such as Oberhausen – as an employer and training provider, but also as a place where economic transformation, skills development and professional transitions have to be shaped in practice?
Following a series of short impulses, these perspectives will come together in a panel discussion. Different and potentially conflicting positions are explicitly part of the format. At the same time, the discussion will look for areas in which there is room for action – and for approaches that can help shape the future of work rather than simply react to it.
city2science is supporting the City of Oberhausen in developing the concept and content of the conference, including its thematic structure and guiding questions. Dr. Annette Klinkert will moderate the conference and the concluding panel discussion.
Oberhausen Labour Market Conference 2026
16 September 2026 | 13:00–16:30
Zentrum Altenberg, Oberhausen
Organised by the City of Oberhausen
Moderated by Dr. Annette Klinkert, city2science GmbH
