Inclusive Employment As A Key To Success

Flexible working arrangements for older employees, inclusive workplaces for people with disabilities, mentoring programmes to promote gender equality, or bridging work placements for refugees: companies can use a wide variety of measures to ensure that more people participate in working life. In the latest episode of the ZEW podcast “Wirklich Wirtschaft”, Linus Strecke, researcher in the ZEW Research Unit “Economics of Innovation and Industrial Dynamics”, discusses how such innovations in work organisation are not only socially beneficial but can also be economically successful. The podcast is available on all major podcast platforms, such as Spotify, Apple Podcasts or Deezer, as well as on the ZEW website.

Companies that introduced inclusive measures for the first time between 2020 and 2022 achieved, on average, around 6.2 per cent higher turnover and employed around 4.7 per cent more staff than comparable companies. At the same time, the study discussed in the episode shows that very small companies in particular still face significant hurdles when it comes to implementation.