The perfect hybrid of job platform and virtual network focusing on the creative talents of Europe

More than 2,500 cultural and creative professionals from all over Europe have participated in the beta testing phase. Now, the free www.skillmill.co talent platform is opening up to the general public.

Vienna, 11 December 2019. Over 12 million people and 2.3 million companies are employed in Europe’s cultural and creative industries, generating an annual turnover of more than 500 billion euros. This is 7.5% of European workers, and 5.3% of the gross domestic product, making cultural and creative industries the third largest employer in the EU. *

Despite this, many culture creators are not able to find work, even though companies report being unable to fill positions because it is not possible to find employees with the right skills. There are many reasons for this: often, the skills of available workers are incompatible with the existing job opportunities. Lack of information prevents qualified jobseekers from discovering promising job opportunities, or the right employees are located in the wrong regions. Many creative workers feel overqualified or underutilized. More than a third of all workers actively keep an eye out for new job opportunities. *

According to the McKinsey Global Institute, “Talent platforms are rapidly becoming the most established and efficient means of finding work.” Creative platforms like Skillmill stimulate economies by fulfilling a fundamental task: connecting people with productive and fulfilling work. *

Skillmill aims to improve the situation of creative workers by providing them with more choices, greater mobility, and maximum flexibility. This benefits employers, too: Companies are able to find and hire a wide range of candidates, saving both time and money. Powerful search functions and algorithms filter possible options efficiently, tailored to specific needs.
Skillmill allows job seekers to introduce their services and present their portfolio to a large circle of potential employers.

Focusing on Creatives
Our slogan – Linking Talent with Opportunity – puts creatives in the focus, building a system designed for their comfort and benefit. Skillmill provides a quick and simple way to jumpstart businesses through attractive projects and jobs.
Around 2,700 talents in the following industries are already available today: Architecture, audio & music, visual arts, performing arts, design, film & video, photography, graphic design, writing & literature, web design, web & software development, and advertising. Other fields will follow as needed.

How the Platform Works ...
Each user has a personal profile page featuring a portfolio they can tailor to fit their needs. The portfolios are combined in a virtual showroom. This makes it possible for interested parties to not only search for people, but also for specific works of art. Pieces can be saved as favorites and serve as reminders or inspiration.

To help find the right talent, job offers can be published free of charge. Both projects and job positions can be posted. However, suitable candidates can also be chosen and contacted directly. The job portal is completely free of charge for creatives and employers alike – no commissions, no fees.

Virtual Networking with Real Benefits
In general, our development motto is to keep all functions as free and as open as possible. For example, once logged in, users can contact each other directly using the integrated messenger function or create “Connections” throughout various fields and countries. This makes it possible to set up a professional, broad-based network efficiently and without great organizational effort.
“Especially in the creative industries, collaboration is essential to being successful. Cooperation allows creatives to expand their capacity and take on larger orders or develop new services and offers,” says Ute Leonhartsberger, co-founder and CCO of Skillmill.

Skillmill is a networking and jobs platform for creative individuals and companies, but goals for the future reach far beyond. The online portal aims to become an international platform for collaboration and innovation among the cultural and creative industries.

New functions will be launched later this year. In development are a premium membership, an online shop for creative pieces and products, and a virtual bulletin board for the Skillmill community. Skillmill is also working on creating promotional tools to help users actively promote their presence on the market.

* European Commission, Boosting the competitiveness of cultural and creative industries for growth and jobs, 2016, https://ec.europa.eu/docsroom/documents/18001/attachments/1/translations/en/renditions/native

* European Commission, Report from the Commission to the European Parliament and the Council – Mid-term evaluation of the Creative Europe programme (2014–2020), 2018, https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/?qid=1525096559278&uri=COM:2018:248:FIN
At European level, comparable statistics on the cultural and creative sectors are lacking.

* McKinsey Global Institute, A labor market that works, 2015, https://www.mckinsey.com/~/media/McKinsey/Featured%20Insights/Employment%20and%20Growth/Connecting%20talent%20with%20opportunity%20in%20the%20digital%20age/MGI%20Online%20talent_A_Labor_Market_That_Works_Executive_%20summary_June%202015.ashx

* LinkedIn Corporation, Talent Trends 2014 – What’s on the minds of the professional workforce, 2014, https://business.linkedin.com/content/dam/business/talent-solutions/global/en_US/c/pdfs/linkedin-talent-trends-2014-en-us.pdf

Skillmill GmbH
Am Modenapark 6/11
1030 Vienna
Austria

www.skillmill.co
info@skillmill.co

Viennese founders Max Hareiter and Ute Leonhartsberger have been passionately working on this project for several years. The Skillmill GmbH company was founded in Vienna in 2016 and the online platform opened to test users in early 2019. We thank all our beta users for their excellent feedback and involvement in our development!

You can find more detailed information about the company founders here:
https://www.skillmill.co/about-us

This release was published on openPR.