All programmes will be in ENGLISH, regardless of the nationality of the speaker.
Time: 23 May, 9:00 - 10:00
Location: SmartRecruiters Room - 1st Floor
Strategically aligning your Talent Acquisition (TA) function ensures your output will be valued and needed by the business to achieve its goals. In this highly interactive 60-minute session, participants will work in teams using the A2A methodology to develop a strategic TA alignment plan through collaborative problem-solving and peer learning.
Time: 23 May, 9:00 - 9:25
Location: Mainstage - Ground Floor
A centralized recruitment model through a Shared Service Center in one country while managing hiring across several locations in the same labor market presents both challenges and opportunities. The key to success in building a high-performing recruitment service is the balancing of processes, capacity and candidates. This session will explore these 3 ingredients of balancing: 1. How to balance standardized processes with local, individual stakeholder needs? 2. How to allocate capacity efficiently and flexibly where and when recruitment is needed? 3. How to navigate market dynamics: when to source from local vs. country labor market?
Time: 23 May, 9:00 - 9:50
Location: Manpower Room - 1st Floor
More and more organizations are moving toward a whole new operating model for work and the workforce that places skills, more than jobs, at the center: they begin to think about each role as a collection of skills, rather than simply a job title; and by decoupling some work from the job — either by atomizing it into projects or tasks, or broadening it so it’s focused on problems to be solved, outcomes to be achieved, or value to be created — people can be freed from being defined by their jobs and instead be seen as whole individuals with skills and capabilities that can be fluidly deployed to work matching their interests, as well as to evolving business priorities. And by basing people decisions on skills more than jobs, organizations can still have a scalable, manageable, and more equitable way of operating. We call this new operating model for work and the workforce “the Skills Based Organization.
Time: 23 May, 9:30 - 10:00
Location: Mainstage - Ground Floor
In this session, Karolína Kroužková, responsible for HR-level selection at JYSK, will share valuable insights and lessons learned from the implementation of TA technology across different countries. Drawing from both successes and challenges faced over the past years, Karolína will highlight key experiences, explore the complexities of cross-country technology integration, and discuss the importance of knowledge sharing in overcoming obstacles.
Time: 22 May, 10:05 - 10:50
Location: Mainstage - Ground Floor
Kevin Wheeler as a former corporate executive at several major corporations has gained an incredible amount of valuable experience over the 40 years he has been in the industry. He will talk about the dramatic transformation of the TA profession, looking ahead to both the short and long term. What lies ahead and what should we prepare for in this changing business environment?
Time: 23 May, 10:20 - 10:40
Location: Mainstage - Ground Floor
Why Employer Branding? And why on LinkedIn? Have you ever wondered what makes LinkedIn posts truly successful? Is it a well-guarded secret, or do small, consistent practices make a big impact? In this session, we’ll unveil the mysteries of LinkedIn Employer Branding and break it down into easy-to-understand, actionable steps. Spoiler alert: the secret lies in a blend of hard work, consistency, and a passionate team driving the efforts. Join us to discover how you can elevate your employer brand on LinkedIn.
Time: 23 May, 10:20 - 11:05
Location: SmartRecruiters Room - 1st Floor
Employee referrals are consistently among the top-performing recruitment channels — yet many organizations fail to unlock their full potential. This hands-on workshop dives into CEE regional trends and data to uncover what truly drives successful referral programs (spoiler: it’s not just the cash incentive!). You’ll collaborate in small groups to tackle real-world challenges like internal communication, leadership involvement, and smart tech solutions. Walk away with fresh inspiration and a practical action plan you can implement right away. Join us to turn your employees into your best recruiters!
Time: 23 May, 10:20 - 11:05
Location: Manpower Room - 1st Floor
With the EU’s new pay transparency directive set to shake up recruitment across the continent, the question is no longer if but how companies will adapt. This open discussion will explore the real implications of mandatory salary disclosure — from compliance challenges to cultural shifts — and what it means for HR, recruiters, and the future of hiring. Participants are encouraged to share questions, experiences, and viewpoints.
Time: 23 May, 10:45 - 11:05
Location: Mainstage - Ground Floor
What does it take to scale a tailor-made recruitment solution in the unique world of gaming? Barnabás Fejes, one of the key figures behind the largest game testing center in Hungary, shares the behind-the-scenes journey of launching a site in 6 weeks and achieving a growth of 500% within two years.
This session offers a raw, honest look at how Manpower SEE built a fully customized recruitment model for the gaming industry. From night owl candidates applying at 2 a.m., to avatars and psychometric testing, to AI-written CVs—Barnabás shares the unexpected challenges, smart adaptations, and cultural quirks that come with hiring gamers at scale.
Time: 22 May, 10:55 - 11:15
Location: Mainstage - Ground Floor
What are the real recruitment pain points of HR leaders and top executives in SEE? Tamas Fehér, Operational Director of Manpower SEE, will present exclusive insights from Manpower’s 2025 regional survey, based on responses from HR and top management across 6 countries.
In this data-backed session, Tamas will uncover how employer priorities vary between markets, where the biggest gaps lie (from sourcing to AI adoption), and what successful companies are doing differently. The lecture will combine data storytelling with sharp insights from Manpower’s experience on the ground, offering practical takeaways for recruitment professionals navigating the region’s fragmented talent landscape.
Time: 23 May, 11:25 - 11:45
Location: Mainstage - Ground Floor
This presentation will explore how recruitment can significantly influence and reshape company culture, with a focus on Opella's transformation from a retail company to an FMCG business. As Opella navigates this complex shift, recruitment plays a crucial role in attracting the right talent to drive cultural change. We will examine the key strategies, challenges, and insights that demonstrate how a strategic approach to hiring can contribute to shaping a dynamic, adaptable, and innovative organizational culture. The session will highlight real-world examples, key takeaways, and actionable steps for leveraging recruitment to support and accelerate company-wide transformation.
Time: 23 May, 11:25 - 12:15
Location: SmartRecruiters Room - 1st Floor
Struggling to attract top talent on LinkedIn? The issue may not be the talent pool—but how your job posts and employer brand are perceived.
In this interactive session, we’ll uncover the key LinkedIn hiring mistakes that prevent top candidates from applying and show you exactly how to fix them.
Time: 23 May, 11:25 - 12:15
Location: Manpower Room - 1st Floor
Join Tony de Graaf for an interactive workshop, "Hiring Assessment Methodology – Improve Your TA Processes," where you'll dive into a Merit-Based Hiring approach designed to eliminate bias from your recruitment strategy. Participants will design their own job intake meeting structure and interview scorecards, using real roles from their organizations. Walk away with practical tools to transform your talent acquisition process into a fair, effective, and future-proof system.
Join this session with a challenge: NOTHING on the requirements for the job can be related to; years of experience, education, job titles, or previously worked companies.
Time: 23 May, 11:50 - 12:15
Location: Mainstage - Ground Floor
As the demand for skilled IT professionals rises, Agentic AI—AI-driven autonomous agents—is redefining how Recruitment Process Outsourcing (RPO) providers source, engage, and hire top tech talent. This session presents a real-world case study on how AI agents have revolutionized IT recruitment, streamlining processes while enhancing precision and efficiency.
Key topics covered:
Through this case study, attendees will gain actionable insights into
Time: 22 May, 11:50 - 12:15
Location: SmartRecruiters Room - 1st Floor
In many industries, job vacancies outnumber applicants, making a strong employer brand more critical than ever. Authentic storytelling helps attract top talent by providing real insights, fostering identification, and strengthening employer brand perception. Video plays a central role in this process, creating emotional connections with candidates and employees throughout their journey with the company. With the rise of accessible video creation tools, producing high-quality, engaging content is no longer limited to marketing teams. HR, internal communications, and other departments can now take an active role in crafting compelling video narratives that enhance employer branding efforts. This session will explore the many ways organizations can leverage video to create sustainable, authentic communication that resonates both internally and externally.
Time: 22 May, 11:50 - 12:15
Location: Mainstage - Ground Floor
Changing business strategies, organizational transformations, and new realities of work are driving the shift to skills-based talent management. Organizations struggle to find talent with the experience they need—just as workers struggle to find foothold roles where they can gain it. How skills based talent acquisition could help close the experience gap? According to recent data, organizations that embed a skills-based approach across the enterprise are able to place talent more effectively and retain high performers at the same time.
Time: 22 May, 11:50 - 12:15
Location: Manpower Room - 1st Floor
Talent Acquisition leaders rightfully think that TA should be a strategic function for the business. Despite that, their teams rarely "get a seat at the table" nowadays. The consequence?
TA struggles to thrive and add real value to the business
TA is labeled as a "backstage", "support", or "delivery" function
TA teams and leaders are frustrated, demotivated, and apathetic
Great talent is leaving the function in droves
But why is that? Why don't we get a seat at the table?
While we can point to many factors that are not necessarily in our control (e.g., market shifts, pandemics, etc.), scaling up a strategic TA function is in our control. And, unfortunately, the great capital squeeze in the world of tech (but not only) we experienced between 2022 and 2024 proved that we built TA functions that are anything but strategic. Looking back, we know now that:
TA contributed to scaling up financially unsustainable organizations
TA spurred a hiring frenzy that was doomed to fail
TA leaders built operation models that weren't scalable, robust, or resilient
But Talent Acquisition shouldn't be back-office. It should be navigation!
The role of TA is not to scale up organizations blindly. Our role is to scale up, from the driver's seat, sustainable organizations. In this talk, I will assert that in order to do so, we need to build strategic TA functions (for real!) and share a few tangible tips on how one can do so within different organizational set-ups
Time: 22 May, 12:35 - 13:00
Location: Mainstage - Ground Floor
Join Bogdan Badea, CEO of eJobs Romania, as he delves into the evolving landscape of job seekers. This presentation will explore the patterns in candidate behavior, their job search journeys, and the latest trends influencing the workforce.
Find out also the behavioral trends shaping their decisions, and what recruiters need to know to attract top talent in the future. Discover how data-driven insights can empower recruiters to better connect with talent in 2025
Time: 22 May, 12:35 - 13:00
Location: Manpower Room - 1st Floor
Edita will share how to build trust right from the start and really connect with your hiring managers by focusing on what matters most to them. Whether it's speed or quality, she'll show you how to streamline the process and customize your approach to their needs. Plus, she'll share some great tips on staying consistent with check-ins and feedback to help you build strong, lasting relationships. You won’t want to miss it!
Time: 22 May, 12:35 - 13:00
Location: SmartRecruiters Room - 1st Floor
HR and Recruitment workload is to increase 9.3%. Yet headcount is to decrease 0.4%.
Scaling recruitment processes is the key way for recruitment to thrive in 2025 and beyond. During this presentation, Mick will share proven practical scaling tactics you can apply tomorrow to your recruitment processes that your candidate will value.
Time: 22 May, 14:05 - 14:30
Location: Mainstage - Ground Floor
In the rapidly evolving landscape of talent acquisition, artificial intelligence is no longer a futuristic concept—it's a present-day game-changer. As a recruiter with two decades of experience, I've witnessed firsthand how AI is revolutionizing the recruitment process, enabling professionals to work smarter, not harder.
The traditional recruitment model is fundamentally broken. Recruiters spend countless hours sifting through applications, manually tracking candidate progress, and managing administrative tasks that drain creative energy and human connection. AI is the solution that transforms this inefficient paradigm.
Time: 22 May, 14:05 - 14:30
Location: Manpower Room - 1st Floor
Ready to supercharge your strategy? Let’s go! Discover market insights into Slovak HR e-commerce, with data-driven strategies within portal Profesia.sk. From e-optimizations to smart upselling and automation — discover how top e-commerce campaigns maximize retention, boost engagement, and drive unstoppable conversions.
Time: 22 May, 14:05 - 14:30
Location: SmartRecruiters Room - 1st Floor
What technologies are Talent Acquisition teams prioritizing in 2025? Where do they see gaps in their recruitment tech stack, and what drives or blocks innovation? In this session, we’ll unveil the key findings of the Tech Report 2024 — the only region-specific research focused on the state of TA technology in Central and Eastern Europe. Based on insights from HR leaders and TA professionals across the region, the report reveals how companies approach system selection, implementation, and user adoption. We’ll also explore what makes a TA tech investment succeed or fail — from integration challenges to decision-making biases.
Whether you're in the middle of an implementation or planning your next big move in tech, this session will give you benchmarks, peer insights, and strategic perspectives to inform your roadmap.
Time: 22 May, 14:50 - 15:15
Location: Mainstage - Ground Floor
You’ll discover a new approach to navigation designed around real-world recruitment use cases. It combines cutting-edge technology with intuitive design to deliver an unparalleled user experience. Through our partnership, Nagarro and RSight® are tackling talent acquisition challenges and shaping the future of hiring.
Time: 22 May, 14:50 - 15:15
Location: SmartRecruiters Room - 1st Floor
Last year, we traveled around the world telling people the world was ending. A world where we'd have to manually search through job boards and ATS for candidates. Where every business process relied on humans getting it right, staying unbiased, and delivering consistently. All while being sick, on holiday, or eating last night's microwaved fish pie for lunch.
That world is over.
AI has landed. A tool of mass destruction, but also mass innovation. Industries are being disrupted. Some torn apart. Yep, that includes the one you work in. You can watch it happen. Or you can embrace the new world, and own it. Some pretend it's not happening. They whisper, “AI can't replace human touch.” Meanwhile, Amazon is cutting managers. Startups are building entire products without hiring developers. Recruiters are getting outpaced by AI agents like Charlie.
We'll show you how AI is already changing recruitment. Stanislaw Wasowicz will present a real case, a live demo, and you'll get a chance to create your own AI agent in 10 minutes at our booth. This isn't the future. This is now.
So, I ask you this…
Are you ready to ride the elephant in the room?
Time: 22 May, 15:35 - 16:00
Location: Mainstage - Ground Floor
Early Careers has been one of the key strategic drivers of transformational change. Multiple organisations have made substantial investments and brought People Transformation to the fore.
Early Careers is an enabler to support growth and innovation and is key in accelerating new skills and capabilities. It’s also a necessary response to demands from users and customers that an organisation must invest in a workforce landscape that evolves and sustains.
For several industries, B2B or B2C, the question at the point of "sales" is not "what" you deliver but "how." How does a firm sustain its products and services? How does it perform against the competition in terms of a variety of benchmarks? To be assessed within the competitive landscape, investing in the ‘customer future’ through talent has become one of the critical considerations for decision-making.
We will share insight into why, what and how, as an employer, you will remain competitive through Early careers. We will explore:
Improving attraction
Improving retention
Making an internal cultural shift
Becoming more customer-centric
Innovating your candidate offering
Time: 22 May, 15:35 - 16:00
Location: SmartRecruiters Room - 1st Floor
Explore the dramatic shift in recruitment practices from the days of candidate scarcity to the current emphasis on soft skills, skills for the future, and collaboration. We will present how to verify "skills for the future" and culture fit during the recruitment process to avoid issues with collaboration, performance, and adaptability to change.
Time: 22 May, 16:10 - 16:45
Location: Mainstage - Ground Floor
In this provocative and forward-looking conversation, Tony de Graaf sits down with Kevin Wheeler and Bogdan Badea to explore the questions most companies avoid—but urgently need to face. From the death of the resume and the rise of skills-based hiring, to the Uberization of job seeking through mobile and AI-powered platforms, this session unpacks how the talent market is fundamentally shifting.
The panel will explore the ongoing power struggle between employers and candidates, the looming obsolescence of today’s recruiter roles, and which AI developments could actually replace human jobs next. Finally, they’ll zoom out to ask the bigger societal questions: What happens if millions lose their jobs to automation? Will universal basic income save us—or are we standing on the edge of societal collapse?
This session isn’t just another trend forecast—it’s an unfiltered look at the future that’s already arriving faster than we’re ready for. Prepare to be challenged.
WineTime at Divino Bazilika
Time: 22 May, 10:05 - 10:50
Location: Mainstage - Ground Floor
Kevin Wheeler as a former corporate executive at several major corporations has gained an incredible amount of valuable experience over the 40 years he has been in the industry. He will talk about the dramatic transformation of the TA profession, looking ahead to both the short and long term. What lies ahead and what should we prepare for in this changing business environment?
Time: 22 May, 10:55 - 11:15
Location: Mainstage - Ground Floor
What are the real recruitment pain points of HR leaders and top executives in SEE? Tamas Fehér, Operational Director of Manpower SEE, will present exclusive insights from Manpower’s 2025 regional survey, based on responses from HR and top management across 6 countries.
In this data-backed session, Tamas will uncover how employer priorities vary between markets, where the biggest gaps lie (from sourcing to AI adoption), and what successful companies are doing differently. The lecture will combine data storytelling with sharp insights from Manpower’s experience on the ground, offering practical takeaways for recruitment professionals navigating the region’s fragmented talent landscape.
Time: 22 May, 11:50 - 12:15
Location: SmartRecruiters Room - 1st Floor
In many industries, job vacancies outnumber applicants, making a strong employer brand more critical than ever. Authentic storytelling helps attract top talent by providing real insights, fostering identification, and strengthening employer brand perception. Video plays a central role in this process, creating emotional connections with candidates and employees throughout their journey with the company. With the rise of accessible video creation tools, producing high-quality, engaging content is no longer limited to marketing teams. HR, internal communications, and other departments can now take an active role in crafting compelling video narratives that enhance employer branding efforts. This session will explore the many ways organizations can leverage video to create sustainable, authentic communication that resonates both internally and externally.
Time: 22 May, 11:50 - 12:15
Location: Mainstage - Ground Floor
Changing business strategies, organizational transformations, and new realities of work are driving the shift to skills-based talent management. Organizations struggle to find talent with the experience they need—just as workers struggle to find foothold roles where they can gain it. How skills based talent acquisition could help close the experience gap? According to recent data, organizations that embed a skills-based approach across the enterprise are able to place talent more effectively and retain high performers at the same time.
Time: 22 May, 11:50 - 12:15
Location: Manpower Room - 1st Floor
Talent Acquisition leaders rightfully think that TA should be a strategic function for the business. Despite that, their teams rarely "get a seat at the table" nowadays. The consequence?
TA struggles to thrive and add real value to the business
TA is labeled as a "backstage", "support", or "delivery" function
TA teams and leaders are frustrated, demotivated, and apathetic
Great talent is leaving the function in droves
But why is that? Why don't we get a seat at the table?
While we can point to many factors that are not necessarily in our control (e.g., market shifts, pandemics, etc.), scaling up a strategic TA function is in our control. And, unfortunately, the great capital squeeze in the world of tech (but not only) we experienced between 2022 and 2024 proved that we built TA functions that are anything but strategic. Looking back, we know now that:
TA contributed to scaling up financially unsustainable organizations
TA spurred a hiring frenzy that was doomed to fail
TA leaders built operation models that weren't scalable, robust, or resilient
But Talent Acquisition shouldn't be back-office. It should be navigation!
The role of TA is not to scale up organizations blindly. Our role is to scale up, from the driver's seat, sustainable organizations. In this talk, I will assert that in order to do so, we need to build strategic TA functions (for real!) and share a few tangible tips on how one can do so within different organizational set-ups
Time: 22 May, 12:35 - 13:00
Location: Mainstage - Ground Floor
Join Bogdan Badea, CEO of eJobs Romania, as he delves into the evolving landscape of job seekers. This presentation will explore the patterns in candidate behavior, their job search journeys, and the latest trends influencing the workforce.
Find out also the behavioral trends shaping their decisions, and what recruiters need to know to attract top talent in the future. Discover how data-driven insights can empower recruiters to better connect with talent in 2025
Time: 22 May, 12:35 - 13:00
Location: Manpower Room - 1st Floor
Edita will share how to build trust right from the start and really connect with your hiring managers by focusing on what matters most to them. Whether it's speed or quality, she'll show you how to streamline the process and customize your approach to their needs. Plus, she'll share some great tips on staying consistent with check-ins and feedback to help you build strong, lasting relationships. You won’t want to miss it!
Time: 22 May, 12:35 - 13:00
Location: SmartRecruiters Room - 1st Floor
HR and Recruitment workload is to increase 9.3%. Yet headcount is to decrease 0.4%.
Scaling recruitment processes is the key way for recruitment to thrive in 2025 and beyond. During this presentation, Mick will share proven practical scaling tactics you can apply tomorrow to your recruitment processes that your candidate will value.
Time: 22 May, 14:05 - 14:30
Location: Mainstage - Ground Floor
In the rapidly evolving landscape of talent acquisition, artificial intelligence is no longer a futuristic concept—it's a present-day game-changer. As a recruiter with two decades of experience, I've witnessed firsthand how AI is revolutionizing the recruitment process, enabling professionals to work smarter, not harder.
The traditional recruitment model is fundamentally broken. Recruiters spend countless hours sifting through applications, manually tracking candidate progress, and managing administrative tasks that drain creative energy and human connection. AI is the solution that transforms this inefficient paradigm.
Time: 22 May, 14:05 - 14:30
Location: Manpower Room - 1st Floor
Ready to supercharge your strategy? Let’s go! Discover market insights into Slovak HR e-commerce, with data-driven strategies within portal Profesia.sk. From e-optimizations to smart upselling and automation — discover how top e-commerce campaigns maximize retention, boost engagement, and drive unstoppable conversions.
Time: 22 May, 14:05 - 14:30
Location: SmartRecruiters Room - 1st Floor
What technologies are Talent Acquisition teams prioritizing in 2025? Where do they see gaps in their recruitment tech stack, and what drives or blocks innovation? In this session, we’ll unveil the key findings of the Tech Report 2024 — the only region-specific research focused on the state of TA technology in Central and Eastern Europe. Based on insights from HR leaders and TA professionals across the region, the report reveals how companies approach system selection, implementation, and user adoption. We’ll also explore what makes a TA tech investment succeed or fail — from integration challenges to decision-making biases.
Whether you're in the middle of an implementation or planning your next big move in tech, this session will give you benchmarks, peer insights, and strategic perspectives to inform your roadmap.
Time: 22 May, 14:50 - 15:15
Location: Mainstage - Ground Floor
You’ll discover a new approach to navigation designed around real-world recruitment use cases. It combines cutting-edge technology with intuitive design to deliver an unparalleled user experience. Through our partnership, Nagarro and RSight® are tackling talent acquisition challenges and shaping the future of hiring.
Time: 22 May, 14:50 - 15:15
Location: SmartRecruiters Room - 1st Floor
Last year, we traveled around the world telling people the world was ending. A world where we'd have to manually search through job boards and ATS for candidates. Where every business process relied on humans getting it right, staying unbiased, and delivering consistently. All while being sick, on holiday, or eating last night's microwaved fish pie for lunch.
That world is over.
AI has landed. A tool of mass destruction, but also mass innovation. Industries are being disrupted. Some torn apart. Yep, that includes the one you work in. You can watch it happen. Or you can embrace the new world, and own it. Some pretend it's not happening. They whisper, “AI can't replace human touch.” Meanwhile, Amazon is cutting managers. Startups are building entire products without hiring developers. Recruiters are getting outpaced by AI agents like Charlie.
We'll show you how AI is already changing recruitment. Stanislaw Wasowicz will present a real case, a live demo, and you'll get a chance to create your own AI agent in 10 minutes at our booth. This isn't the future. This is now.
So, I ask you this…
Are you ready to ride the elephant in the room?
Time: 22 May, 15:35 - 16:00
Location: Mainstage - Ground Floor
Early Careers has been one of the key strategic drivers of transformational change. Multiple organisations have made substantial investments and brought People Transformation to the fore.
Early Careers is an enabler to support growth and innovation and is key in accelerating new skills and capabilities. It’s also a necessary response to demands from users and customers that an organisation must invest in a workforce landscape that evolves and sustains.
For several industries, B2B or B2C, the question at the point of "sales" is not "what" you deliver but "how." How does a firm sustain its products and services? How does it perform against the competition in terms of a variety of benchmarks? To be assessed within the competitive landscape, investing in the ‘customer future’ through talent has become one of the critical considerations for decision-making.
We will share insight into why, what and how, as an employer, you will remain competitive through Early careers. We will explore:
Improving attraction
Improving retention
Making an internal cultural shift
Becoming more customer-centric
Innovating your candidate offering
Time: 22 May, 15:35 - 16:00
Location: SmartRecruiters Room - 1st Floor
Explore the dramatic shift in recruitment practices from the days of candidate scarcity to the current emphasis on soft skills, skills for the future, and collaboration. We will present how to verify "skills for the future" and culture fit during the recruitment process to avoid issues with collaboration, performance, and adaptability to change.
Time: 22 May, 16:10 - 16:45
Location: Mainstage - Ground Floor
In this provocative and forward-looking conversation, Tony de Graaf sits down with Kevin Wheeler and Bogdan Badea to explore the questions most companies avoid—but urgently need to face. From the death of the resume and the rise of skills-based hiring, to the Uberization of job seeking through mobile and AI-powered platforms, this session unpacks how the talent market is fundamentally shifting.
The panel will explore the ongoing power struggle between employers and candidates, the looming obsolescence of today’s recruiter roles, and which AI developments could actually replace human jobs next. Finally, they’ll zoom out to ask the bigger societal questions: What happens if millions lose their jobs to automation? Will universal basic income save us—or are we standing on the edge of societal collapse?
This session isn’t just another trend forecast—it’s an unfiltered look at the future that’s already arriving faster than we’re ready for. Prepare to be challenged.
WineTime at Divino Bazilika
Time: 23 May, 9:00 - 10:00
Location: SmartRecruiters Room - 1st Floor
Strategically aligning your Talent Acquisition (TA) function ensures your output will be valued and needed by the business to achieve its goals. In this highly interactive 60-minute session, participants will work in teams using the A2A methodology to develop a strategic TA alignment plan through collaborative problem-solving and peer learning.
Time: 23 May, 9:00 - 9:25
Location: Mainstage - Ground Floor
A centralized recruitment model through a Shared Service Center in one country while managing hiring across several locations in the same labor market presents both challenges and opportunities. The key to success in building a high-performing recruitment service is the balancing of processes, capacity and candidates. This session will explore these 3 ingredients of balancing: 1. How to balance standardized processes with local, individual stakeholder needs? 2. How to allocate capacity efficiently and flexibly where and when recruitment is needed? 3. How to navigate market dynamics: when to source from local vs. country labor market?
Time: 23 May, 9:00 - 9:50
Location: Manpower Room - 1st Floor
More and more organizations are moving toward a whole new operating model for work and the workforce that places skills, more than jobs, at the center: they begin to think about each role as a collection of skills, rather than simply a job title; and by decoupling some work from the job — either by atomizing it into projects or tasks, or broadening it so it’s focused on problems to be solved, outcomes to be achieved, or value to be created — people can be freed from being defined by their jobs and instead be seen as whole individuals with skills and capabilities that can be fluidly deployed to work matching their interests, as well as to evolving business priorities. And by basing people decisions on skills more than jobs, organizations can still have a scalable, manageable, and more equitable way of operating. We call this new operating model for work and the workforce “the Skills Based Organization.
Time: 23 May, 9:30 - 10:00
Location: Mainstage - Ground Floor
In this session, Karolína Kroužková, responsible for HR-level selection at JYSK, will share valuable insights and lessons learned from the implementation of TA technology across different countries. Drawing from both successes and challenges faced over the past years, Karolína will highlight key experiences, explore the complexities of cross-country technology integration, and discuss the importance of knowledge sharing in overcoming obstacles.
Time: 23 May, 10:20 - 10:40
Location: Mainstage - Ground Floor
Why Employer Branding? And why on LinkedIn? Have you ever wondered what makes LinkedIn posts truly successful? Is it a well-guarded secret, or do small, consistent practices make a big impact? In this session, we’ll unveil the mysteries of LinkedIn Employer Branding and break it down into easy-to-understand, actionable steps. Spoiler alert: the secret lies in a blend of hard work, consistency, and a passionate team driving the efforts. Join us to discover how you can elevate your employer brand on LinkedIn.
Time: 23 May, 10:20 - 11:05
Location: SmartRecruiters Room - 1st Floor
Employee referrals are consistently among the top-performing recruitment channels — yet many organizations fail to unlock their full potential. This hands-on workshop dives into CEE regional trends and data to uncover what truly drives successful referral programs (spoiler: it’s not just the cash incentive!). You’ll collaborate in small groups to tackle real-world challenges like internal communication, leadership involvement, and smart tech solutions. Walk away with fresh inspiration and a practical action plan you can implement right away. Join us to turn your employees into your best recruiters!
Time: 23 May, 10:20 - 11:05
Location: Manpower Room - 1st Floor
With the EU’s new pay transparency directive set to shake up recruitment across the continent, the question is no longer if but how companies will adapt. This open discussion will explore the real implications of mandatory salary disclosure — from compliance challenges to cultural shifts — and what it means for HR, recruiters, and the future of hiring. Participants are encouraged to share questions, experiences, and viewpoints.
Time: 23 May, 10:45 - 11:05
Location: Mainstage - Ground Floor
What does it take to scale a tailor-made recruitment solution in the unique world of gaming? Barnabás Fejes, one of the key figures behind the largest game testing center in Hungary, shares the behind-the-scenes journey of launching a site in 6 weeks and achieving a growth of 500% within two years.
This session offers a raw, honest look at how Manpower SEE built a fully customized recruitment model for the gaming industry. From night owl candidates applying at 2 a.m., to avatars and psychometric testing, to AI-written CVs—Barnabás shares the unexpected challenges, smart adaptations, and cultural quirks that come with hiring gamers at scale.
Time: 23 May, 11:25 - 11:45
Location: Mainstage - Ground Floor
This presentation will explore how recruitment can significantly influence and reshape company culture, with a focus on Opella's transformation from a retail company to an FMCG business. As Opella navigates this complex shift, recruitment plays a crucial role in attracting the right talent to drive cultural change. We will examine the key strategies, challenges, and insights that demonstrate how a strategic approach to hiring can contribute to shaping a dynamic, adaptable, and innovative organizational culture. The session will highlight real-world examples, key takeaways, and actionable steps for leveraging recruitment to support and accelerate company-wide transformation.
Time: 23 May, 11:25 - 12:15
Location: SmartRecruiters Room - 1st Floor
Struggling to attract top talent on LinkedIn? The issue may not be the talent pool—but how your job posts and employer brand are perceived.
In this interactive session, we’ll uncover the key LinkedIn hiring mistakes that prevent top candidates from applying and show you exactly how to fix them.
Time: 23 May, 11:25 - 12:15
Location: Manpower Room - 1st Floor
Join Tony de Graaf for an interactive workshop, "Hiring Assessment Methodology – Improve Your TA Processes," where you'll dive into a Merit-Based Hiring approach designed to eliminate bias from your recruitment strategy. Participants will design their own job intake meeting structure and interview scorecards, using real roles from their organizations. Walk away with practical tools to transform your talent acquisition process into a fair, effective, and future-proof system.
Join this session with a challenge: NOTHING on the requirements for the job can be related to; years of experience, education, job titles, or previously worked companies.
Time: 23 May, 11:50 - 12:15
Location: Mainstage - Ground Floor
As the demand for skilled IT professionals rises, Agentic AI—AI-driven autonomous agents—is redefining how Recruitment Process Outsourcing (RPO) providers source, engage, and hire top tech talent. This session presents a real-world case study on how AI agents have revolutionized IT recruitment, streamlining processes while enhancing precision and efficiency.
Key topics covered:
Through this case study, attendees will gain actionable insights into
We reserve the right to make changes!
