Skills shortage in medicine: MEDICA as a career boost

MEDICA is positioning itself against the skills shortage in the healthcare sector. As a place for networking, orientation and career development, it offers opportunities regardless of age and career level: junior staff and young talents as well as specialists and managers with longer professional experience. We present the offers aimed at the workforce in the healthcare sector at MEDICA 2025.

There is already a shortage of tens of thousands of qualified specialists in the German healthcare sector alone. In 2024, around 46,000 positions remained unfilled, particularly in nursing and care, diagnostics and medical assistant professions.

The staff shortage is leading to longer waiting times, greater work intensity and limited innovative capacity. This ultimately reduces quality of care and jeopardizes patient health. Highly specialized areas such as laboratory medicine, medical technology and digital health solutions are particularly affected, as are care professions. At the same time, the need for new skills in tech is increasing, for example, in working with automation, AI or networked medical devices.

For young professionals, this means a labor market with high demand, but also with increasing professional requirements. Working with new tech solutions can make many occupational fields more attractive, including traditional manual occupations in nursing.

MEDICA specifically addresses these developments and offered several formats aimed at skilled workers and young talents in 2025.

The Women Leaders in Healthcare event in the MEDICA INNOVATION FORUM stands out. Its aim is to promote the networking of women in healthcare and their careers.

On Tuesday, November 18, Women Leaders in Healthcare offered insights into career paths and interaction with experienced female executives at several networking tables. There was also a stage program entitled "Together we thrive – Closing the gender gap in healthcare". This included a panel discussion and presentations with female executives and pioneering women from the healthcare industry.

Find out more about Women Leaders in Healthcare on our website, including portraits of several participating speakers.

The laboratory sector is not immune to the skills shortage. Both the training-intensive technical professions and the profession of laboratory physicians are affected. This development was addressed in the MEDICA LABMED FORUM, which is aimed at specialists in laboratory medicine and diagnostics.

The opening session on Monday, November 17, entitled “Human resources in laboratory medicine: Challenges and Solutions” addressed personnel issues, qualifications and new working models in the laboratory. The forum thus combined specialist training with labor market-related issues and a look at tech and innovations.

All information about the MEDICA LABMED FORUM can be found on our website.

MEDICA 2025 also addressed students to help them with orientation and career choices. Highlights for them included:

• A visit to the MEDICA START-UP PARK, where young founders presented their companies.
• The MEDICA INNOVATION FORUM with exciting technology topics such as AI, robotics, wearables and telemedicine as well as the two competitions MEDICA START-UP COMPETITION and HEALTHCARE INNOVATION WORLD CUP.
• The opportunity to make valuable contacts with industry experts at the trade fair stands and to get to know companies as potential employers.

MEDICA exhibitors are also addressing the topic and emphasizing MEDICA's role as a career platform. One example of this is K-Recruiting. The company specializes in the placement of freelancers in medical technology, diagnostics and life sciences. This method places specialists not in permanent positions but connects freelancers with companies for project work. This increases flexibility for all parties involved and improves the fit between the requirements of a position and the skills of the specialist.

For young talents and specialists, these offers make MEDICA more than just a trade fair. It offers orientation in a complex professional field, opens new perspectives and brings together people who want to make a difference. Anyone who wants to get involved in tomorrow’s healthcare sector will find the right contacts, impulses, entry and career opportunities at MEDICA. It's definitely worth being there.