PLAY2WORK, the innovative project of Confindustria Bergamo with Adecco to intercept hidden talents by involving the community of online players
In the Bergamo labor market, close to full employment and affected by a growing demographic decline, young people are destined to become increasingly valuable. They play a fundamental role in stimulating the innovation processes of companies, but it is not easy to intercept their aspirations, speak their languages and finalize their skills. Hence the effort by companies to get involved and be more attractive, also activating less traditional dialogue channels.
In a context of great turmoil, Confindustria Bergamo, with Adecco, launched PLAY2WORK, the first championship for enthusiasts and enthusiasts of the Fortnite online platform, among the most widespread in this field. A project that aims to experiment, through gaming, with the development of new models and approaches to reach young people, including the so-called NEETs, who do not study, do not work and do not look for a job.
The championship, which involved 256 unique participants, was in this first edition structured into two online elimination tournaments, held on May 25th and June 1st, and culminated with the final, which was held this afternoon, in person, in the Auditorium of Confindustria Bergamo.
The protagonists were 6 young people who passed the selection phases and took part in a race to the last click. In the morning the finalists were also involved in an assessment session, through an innovative evaluation model, based on the parallelism between the skills developed in gaming and the skills required by the world of work.
PLAY2WORK in fact, it has a dual objective: on the one hand, through the community of players, people who are not accessible through traditional channels of the job market can be reached. On the other hand, the game also becomes an innovative system for evaluating skills: through continuous challenges and real-time problem solving, analysis, strategic planning, collaboration, stress management and problem solving skills are implemented and stimulated. All qualities that are highly transferable to work contexts and which can make the difference.
During the morning phase, several human resources managers from associated companies were present who were able to come into contact with profiles potentially of interest to the companies.
The results and possible developments of the project will be presented during the assembly of the Young Entrepreneurs of Confindustria Bergamo on 19 June.
Matteo Vavassori, President of Young Entrepreneurs of Confindustria Bergamo, with delegation for New Generations
“In an increasingly complex job market, characterized by a growing shortage of young people with adequate skills, it is essential to look for new tools to intercept talent.
Online gaming, especially when it requires cooperation and interrelationship, is certainly an important option for opening up to a world that we sometimes struggle to engage with traditional systems. In particular, with this project we have created an innovative model based on the parallelism between the skills required by businesses and the skills developed in gaming, from analytical skills to strategic planning, from collaboration to stress management, and at the same time we stimulate comparison with corporate human resources managers.
An experiment that is fully included among the numerous initiatives of Confindustria Bergamo to strengthen the capacity of companies to dialogue with young people”.
Virginia Stagni, CMO & Country Head of Communication The Adecco Group Italy
“Unlike what people believe, gaming is not just entertainment, but a training ground for skills that today find wide application in the world of work. With the Play2Work project, we want to demonstrate how these skills can be identified and enhanced by companies and, at the same time, how companies can find a strategic lever in the world of gaming to be able to attract these talents, communicating with them in an innovative and captivating way” .
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