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Esports, TikTok: Ziehl-Abegg’s Innovative Approach to Recruiting IT Professionals

Esports, TikTok: Ziehl-Abegg’s Innovative Approach to Recruiting IT Professionals
German fan manufacturer Ziehl-Abegg has developed an innovative recruitment method based on esports. (Credit: Ziehl-Abegg)

To address the challenges of skilled labor shortages, some industrial companies have decided to pull out all the stops: e-sport competitions, presence on TikTok… All means are good to attract talent. This is the case for the German fans and electric motors manufacturer Ziehl-Abegg. We met with Rainer Gill, the public relations manager who developed this innovative recruitment method.

Developed countries are facing a structural shortage of qualified labor. In Europe,  businesses struggle to recruit and train profiles that match the market needs. Engineers, technicians, and IT professionals are concerned by this lack of a qualified workforce.

This is indeed one of the 10 supply chain risks for 2024 identified earlier this year by market research firm KYU. The labor shortage poses a risk to the economy and growth of developed countries. So, how can we attract talent?

No Fan, No Fun

German fan manufacturer Ziehl-Abegg has developed an innovative recruitment method based on esports, Rainer Gill, head of public relations told DirectIndustry. This choice doesn’t come out of nowhere. Mr. Grill himself is a dedicated online gamer.

“We have been producing fans for over 100 years. Many of our older employees are now retiring, so we need to hire more people. However, we face a challenge in attracting young talent, as the fan industry may seem unexciting to them. Fans are boring. Therefore, we decided to merge our fan production with the esports sector to appeal to younger demographics.”

In 2020, the company established an esports team (Credit: Ziehl-Abegg)
They host tournaments for external participants several times a year in games like Rainbow Six Siege, Counter-Strike, and Rocket League.(Credit: Ziehl-Abegg)

Esports Team

In 2020, the company established an esports team that competes in international tournaments against top-tier teams from around the world, hoping to attract young talents. For instance, they host tournaments for external participants several times a year in games like Rainbow Six Siege, Counter-Strike, and Rocket League.

Attracting young talent through esports might seem surprising at first glance. Esports and fan manufacturing may not seem related, but there is a connection as Rainer explains:

“If you play online, you need a data center. In the data center, thousands of fans are working. In the building where you are playing, you have fans all around you. So it’s the best situation to show young people that if you play, you have a lot of fans working for you. And those fans are manufactured by companies like ours.”

Surprisingly, this unconventional recruitment method has proven successful.

“We have 20 positions for apprentices and students in the IT department, and they were all fully booked by February. We received more CVs than we had available positions in the IT department, which is incredible! People from various countries, including Portugal, Italy, France, and Belgium, compete against each other in our online tournaments. These are individuals we were certain would never consider working for us. However, they see our company as appealing, as fancy and they want to join us.”

Fun fact: the company had gamer chairs made as office chairs specifically for interns and IT staff. Every Thursday evening, colleagues can compete in football or nine-pin bowling.

Rainer Gill, head of public relations at Ziehl-Abegg (Credit: C. RUSTICI)
Ziehl-Abegg had gamer chairs made as office chairs specifically for interns and IT staff. (Credit: C. RUSTICI)

TikTok

Ziehl-Abegg is also present on TikTok, the favorite social network of young people. They have 106,000 followers and more than 90 million views of their videos. 

“We create entertaining videos. We don’t focus on fans or the industry; it’s not infotainment. Who wants to watch videos about fans? My colleagues, customers, suppliers, and competitors already know about my company. To attract attention from others, we need to create different types of content. The goal is to portray the company in a positive light.”

In one of the videos posted on the company’s TikTok account, we see employees, both men and women, dressed like Rainer, wearing a suit and a yellow tie. This video has garnered 720,000 views. Another Christmas video has reached 4 million views.

Quoting TikTok Europe, the company claims to be the most successful B2B company on TikTok.

However, when the account was opened in 2020, many mocked Zhiel-Abegg:

“People said we were crazy. It was not easy to start it at that time, but it’s good it works. And we never paid €1 for this!”

Mr. Grill handed me the statistics and showed me the average age of the people watching these videos. The majority are between 18 and 34 years old. A potential pool to recruit future talent for the company.

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Hannover Messe

Ziehl-Abegg will be showcasing its new fans and electric motors during Hannover Messe. Many of their new fans include biomimicry elements. 

“We get inspiration from nature. This fan has the shape of the humpback whale. This one from the owl. and this one from the eagle.”

Visitors will even have the opportunity to compete against Ziehl-Abegg teams in the online game Rocket League and hope to win prizes.

They will be present in Hall 11 Booth C71/1.

Other Companies

EDF partnered with a TikTok influencer to promote nuclear jobs to a young audience. (Credit: EDF)

Ziehl-Abegg is not the only B2B company turning to social media platforms popular among young people to make themselves known to them. The French nuclear leader, EDF, is also leveraging TikTok to reach out to young audiences.

The company collaborated with a TikTok influencer, Quentin, who has 1.2 million followers, to create a video explaining the role of a nuclear professional at one of EDF’s power plants. The objective is to enhance EDF’s appeal among young people, especially at a time when the nuclear industry is facing a significant skill shortage.

The video (in French) which has been online since November 7 on the influencer’s TikTok account, has garnered 16,000 likes.

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