Is it game over for Europe?

The only chance we have is to raise productivity. We need to wake up, at long last, and change track.

Andreas F.J. Obereder | CEO and Founder, ATOSS

This issue seems to really matter to you …

Of course it does. It’s about our future and our children. And I’m not the only one who’s concerned: it’s a topic that comes up time and again when I speak to our customers across Europe. Nevertheless, I wouldn’t have become an entrepreneur if challenges didn’t attract and motivate me. So, it’s still within our power to determine whether it’s game over for Europe or whether the continent can emerge stronger from this crisis. What makes me proud is seeing that over the past decades we‘ve developed expertise and excellence at ATOSS on a topic that can make an important contribution to solving this crisis.

Perhaps you could explain in more detail what workforce management has to do with the future of Europe.

More than you might think, actually. First, workforce management paves the way for much more flexible working time models, which make it possible to effectively integrate new population groups into the labor market. Second, while we can’t stop the decline in average working hours, we can help to significantly boost staff productivity. That absolutely has to happen if we’re going to remain competitive internationally despite the reduced input of working hours. Companies that don’t get to grips with this will disappear from the market because they’ll either go bankrupt or be acquired by international competitors. In the past, flexibilization of working time undoubtedly made Germany a world leader in productivity for a long time. Nowadays, however, historical tools and accomplishments simply aren’t enough. We need far more intelligent tools to continue driving productivity higher.

Is systematic digitalization the only way to be successful given the tensions you have described?

Yes, that‘s true! A good example of this is our customer HORNBACH, a true digitalization champion. While 50% of German companies see the shortage of skilled workers as a barrier to growth and profitability, HORNBACH is on the winning side. With its “Working Hours Made to Measure” model, the company with its workforce of roughly 25,000 has managed to offer its employees and job applicants a huge degree of flexibility. There can be no better momentum for employer branding. It creates a unique selling point and attracts attention, not only within its industry and in specialist media.

Which other market segments besides retail benefit from workforce management?

In principle all of them, but here is an example of our customer BERLIN-CHEMIE that is taking a similar approach and offering its employees a great deal of freedom to choose individual working time models tailored to different phases of life. This has a demonstrable and lasting impact on employee satisfaction and sickness rates. Neither example would be possible without an intelligent system.

These are showcase projects, particularly with respect to the shortage of skilled workers. Is this still a major issue?

Absolutely. But I’m repeatedly amazed by the innovative approaches our customers develop. The University Hospitals of Mainz and Frankfurt are good examples. We worked together with our customers and created solutions that can anticipate the work loads on nursing staff and proactively take countermeasures in planning. On the one hand, this boosts employee satisfaction. On the other hand – and this is a decisive factor, especially in the healthcare sector – it achieves improvements in the quality of care that patients receive.

So, ultimately, workforce management also generates success factors for business?

Yes, and it helps to optimize business models. Our customer ATU is another good example. They were looking for a lever they could pull to better align their workforce with actual demand. One lever was the opening times, because not only the staff is a controllable factor, but also the demand - if you design both, you get optimal results. ATU realized that they could reduce their opening hours at the start and end of the day to better align workforce scheduling with demand, while maintaining consistent service quality and without any disadvantages for customers or employees. I think that’s an excellent example of raising productivity.

You‘ve mentioned a few examples from larger companies. Can other-sized companies also benefit?

Of course, workforce management is a relevant topic for companies of all sizes and in all industries, so we offer solutions for companies with two to over 200,000 employees. We’ve seen it deliver a huge boost, especially for small businesses. In 2023, over 3,000 companies introduced our Crewmeister solution. This is also due to the ruling of the European Court of Justice and the Federal Labor Court on the obligation to document working hours. And when it comes to medium-sized enterprises, companies such as Mammut, Engelberg Strauss, and even Giorgio Armani are also benefiting from our solutions.

What role does artificial intelligence (AI) play in these developments and what is your personal view of this topic?

If we look back to a year ago, there was an enormous global buzz because ChatGPT had just been made public. Everyone was trying it out and was impressed. Now, more than a year later, it’s impossible to imagine life without it. We’re living in an even more dynamic world. All of the companies that plan for the long term are now giving serious thought to how they can integrate the power of AI in their value chain. And it’s crucial that they do!

That also gives rise to concerns that, in the process, AI will come to replace people in the workplace …

Over the past year, I think it’s become clear that we’re still a while away from revolutionary advances. The truly revolutionary, all-encompassing transformation of our world will only come about when we manage to link AI and quantum computing in a stable, economically efficient way. Examples such as PsiQuantum, a company in Palo Alto, California, have already shown what‘s possible. They managed to enhance computing power by a factor of 50. Computing power is currently doubling every 18 months. Data transmission at the speed of light in conjunction With artificial intelligence will become reality in the next five to ten years. Irrespective of this, a lot will have changed by then. If used intelligently, AI will help many people to achieve tremendous advances in productivity and thus give them a competitive edge over competitors who are not using AI.

Is ATOSS also engaging with the topic of artificial intelligence?

Of course. We have dedicated teams working exclusively on this topic. In this context, the fact that we completed our long-term transformation to become cloud-native in late 2023 is a tremendous help. It means that we’re operating on a state-of-the-art platform, which will lead to faster, value-generating innovation. 

Despite this, ATOSS continues to offer on-premises solutions …

We have to. There are some countries that continue to cling on to outdated technology – and unfortunately, Germany leads the way on this. It’s a real competitive disadvantage in an international context. Over 80 of our customers, some of them high-profile companies were hacked last year. The ATOSS systems were not the target but it shows just how seriously we must take cybersecurity. It has dramatic consequences: machinery downtime, invoices can’t be settled, wages go unpaid. In many cases, companies simply lose access to their data. According to a survey by PwC, German CEOs identify cyber risks as by far the most pressing threat for the next 12 months. Investment is urgently required in this field, especially in modern cloud-based solutions.