The Threat
Job automation, increased workplace surveillance, and widening economic gaps.
Conference 2026
Stay & Shape: Youth, Migration and the Digital Transformation of Work in Southeast Europe
A Vienna gathering for young trade unionists, researchers and policy voices working on migration, youth representation and the future of work.
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The Challenge
A Changing Landscape For Young Workers
Across Southeastern Europe, young people are leaving their home countries in growing numbers, driven by low wages and unstable employment.
While traditional industries struggle to provide the security they once did, the rapid rise of digitalization - from artificial intelligence to algorithmic management - is fundamentally reshaping work for those who remain.
This dual transformation poses complex challenges:
The Opportunity
Leveraging new technologies to create better, safer, and more flexible work environments.
To ensure a fair future, we must act on both.
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Strategy
Our Objective
Build Power. Shape Systems. Create Reasons To Stay.
The Stay & Shape conference series is designed to strengthen trade unions' capacity to respond to both traditional and digital labour market transformations.
Bringing together 70 participants from Austria, Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Georgia, Moldova, Montenegro, Serbia, and across the EU, we focus on actionable strategies, institutional power, and future-ready policy.
Systems.People.
Power.
Share
Practical strategies for youth recruitment and institutional empowerment.
Develop
Concrete initiatives that give young people real economic reasons to stay.
Formulate
Policies that uphold fair labour standards and ensure technology serves workers.
From analysis to action.
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Vienna
Stay & Shape Conference Series 2026
Vienna "Power & Participation"
The first leg of our series focuses on establishing robust structures to protect young workers in an evolving economy.
Alongside the Austrian Trade Union Youth (ÖGJ), participants will explore practical solutions to prevent the "brain drain" and ensure digital rights are integrated into collective bargaining.
Focus:
Securing decent work through strong institutions
Expert Workshops
- The Austrian Model
- Vocational training
- Young Workers Councils
Organising the Future
Adapting trade union recruitment strategies for the digital age.
Data & Analysis
- The "Precarity Trap"
- Youth unemployment
- Dual education
Keynotes
AI, robotics, and the future labour market.
High Level Panel
The Algorithmic Boss?
How AI and automation are reshaping youth employment, job quality, and workers' rights.
30-minute expert keynote followed by a high-level panel discussion.
Confirmed panelists:
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Looking Ahead
Part 2 Spotlight
Sarajevo "Migration & Mobility"
The conversation continues in the autumn! Following our foundational work in Vienna, Part 2 will shift focus to the direct intersection of digitalization and migration.
We will explore how digital labour markets influence migration trends and strategize on how to regulate algorithmic management to provide viable, local economic alternatives to leaving.
Focus:
Migration & Mobility
Digital Labour Markets
How remote work changes mobility choices.
Migration Trends
Remote work vs. emigration.
Algorithmic Management
Regulation that keeps work fair.
Local Alternatives
Viable economic reasons to stay.
Part 2
The Future Is Local
Youth, unions, and partners developing strategies for mobility without forced departure.
Stronger unions. Fairer futures.
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Registration
Register your interest for Vienna
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