On 13th May 2026, interpack will host its Young Talents Day to connect trainees, students, and young professionals with packaging companies and point them towards professional and training pathways.
This year, the Young Talents Day will focus on future skills – one of interpack’s central themes. With interdisciplinary skills becoming more in demand, from technical understanding to sustainability-minded ideas, the programme aims to highlight the shift in required skills and job profiles in light of digitalization and sustainability initiatives; and to demonstrate a broad spectrum of entry routes.
Young people will be invited to meet experts and HR managers from various fields to hear about degree courses, apprenticeships, dual models, internships, and trainee programmes. The programme will present career prospects in engineering, production, management, electrical engineering, food technology, and more.
The Young Talents Tour will seek to foster dialogue and networking. Young industry representatives will share their insights into their careers and demonstrate a potential future in the industry, while companies like KOCH Pac-Systeme, FAWEMA, Loeschpack, Theegarten-Pactec and Gerhard Schubert will also discuss current technologies, processes, and job profiles along the value chain.
The interpack Career Tour is intended for school pupils who are interested in an apprenticeship. Participants are matched with companies to learn about entry opportunities and gain an overview of potential career prospects and employers.
The SPOTLIGHT Forum will address current industry topics, with the ‘NextGen Plastics powered by IK’ session focusing on young talent in the industry. The Science Slam will also platform young researchers as they present their packaging projects in a ‘clear and interactive’ format.
Additionally, the VDMA Technology Lounge in Hall 4 will showcase ongoing work to combine sustainability and technology. Through interactive applications, workshops and AI demonstrators, it seeks to help attendees understand technological interrelationships and learn how these skills can be developed during training and studies.
For example, ITQ GmbH and the Gerda Stetter Foundation will present the CirQmind project. It will showcase the waste sorting, shredding, and injection moulding processes live on site, as well as hosting a series of workshops for young visitors.
The Young Talents Day is free of charge for this age group.
In other news, the Women in Packaging programme will also be returning to interpack this year. Platforming female professionals from Tetra Pak, Henkel, BASF, the World Packaging Organisation and more, the event will feature multi-perspective panel discussions and networking opportunities geared towards women at all career levels.
To hear more about what to expect from interpack, and the coverage to look out for from Packaging Europe, take a look at our summary of the upcoming show.
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