"Next Gen at Work" Event at Salone del Mobile.Milano Concludes Successfully, Focusing on New Generation Talent and Industry Inheritance

Skill upgrading and industrial chain iteration have become the key to enhancing the core competitiveness of the design and home furnishing industry. On April 24th, the special event "Next Gen at Work · Workplace Stories Told by Practitioners" (Next Gen at Work. Storie di lavoro raccontate da chi lo fa) launched by Salone del Mobile.Milano concluded successfully.

Focusing on the growth of new-generation practitioners, this event further strengthened Salone del Mobile.Milano’s core role as an industry hub and built an efficient communication bridge between the new generation and the industry.

The event was carried out in the form of a series of forum marathons, divided into three thematic sessions. A number of senior practitioners in the industrial chain were invited to share on-site. From a first-person perspective and combined with their own work experience, they vividly told the professional diversity of the design and home furnishing industry, and comprehensively showed the diverse ecology and unique charm of the industry.

Hosted by "Green Design Days", a project under Assarredo (affiliated to FederlegnoArredo), the event had a warm atmosphere and attracted many young practitioners and students to attend and listen.

According to on-site staff, the launch of this project stems from the growing market demand for career guidance for the new generation. Data released on-site shows that the number of student visitors to Salone del Mobile.Milano has increased by 32.46% in the past two years. This data also confirms that the design and home furnishing industry, as a field integrating manufacturing, technological innovation and design culture, has gained continuous attention from young groups.

The core purpose of the "Next Gen at Work" event is to shorten the distance between the new generation and the workplace. On-site, by specifically disassembling the core skills required in each link of the value chain — from design and production to sustainable development, supply chain management, and then to brand communication and digital innovation — the event provided clear and practical career guidance for the young people present.

At the event, Maria Porro, President of Salone del Mobile.Milano, said in her speech: "Investing in the new generation is investing in the future competitiveness of the entire industrial chain. At a time when human capital has become a key factor in industrial innovation, we hope that through the 'Next Gen at Work' event, we can provide practical career guidance tools for young people, tap the value of skills that are often overlooked, and strengthen the dialogue between education and enterprises." Her speech resonated strongly with the young practitioners on site.

It was learned from the scene that this event was co-launched by Salone del Mobile.Milano and Will Media, and closely collaborated with the Osservatorio del Salone del Mobile.Milano. A relevant person in charge of the observatory revealed on-site that in the third edition of the "Milan (Eco) Design System Annual Report" [(Eco)Sistema Design Milano] to be released in December 2026, with the research support of the School of Design of Politecnico di Milano, it will further explore the evolution trend of skills and the core role of the new generation in the design system.

In addition, as a core event of Assarredo, "Green Design Days" is an annual and multi-regional series of activities. Through various forms such as forums, enterprise visits, cultural activities and technical seminars, it explores new production models and practical paths that take into account environmental impacts, social impacts, supply chain policies and regional cooperation. With diverse and innovative forms, the event also invited design enterprises, designers, researchers, universities and many industry participants to participate on-site, comprehensively interpreting this core industry theme.（All the images: courtesy of Salone del Mobile.Milano）