Sustainable work for and with people

The research group engineering for work is concerned with research, design and implementation of sustainable work for and with people. Opportunities and challenges brought about by global trends such as individualization, demographic change, digitization and automation or the evolution towards a knowledge society are changing our working world. These changes are accompanied by an environment that is described as increasingly volatile, uncertain, complex and ambiguous, a development that is subsumed by the acronym VUCA. To cope in this future work environment and keep up with extremely rapid technological change, new skill profiles are needed, and information technology skills as well as the ability to work creatively and agile in teams are becoming increasingly important. New technologies, such as physical and cognitive assistants or networked and self-learning systems, are conquering production halls and offices - in all economic sectors as well as in public space. The design of these new spaces and technologies poses a new challenge for ergonomics.

For a sustainable working environment, new competence requirements must be identified and promoted (in a work-integrated manner). Employees and managers alike have to be trained in the use of state-of-the-art technologies and processes. New technologies must be designed and integrated into existing human environments in a human-centered way. New ways of working and working environments have to be designed, and their effects on productivity, well-being and creativity of employees have to be quantified. This results in the goal of the engineering for work research group to take a holistic view of work in the dimensions of people, technology and organization to design work for the future.