A multitude of European strategic development papers and policies highlight the importance of equipping people with 21^st-century skills (e.g., the paper “Towards a sustainable Europe by 2030”, the European Pillar of Social Rights Action Plan, the industrial strategy for Europe and the small and medium enterprise (SME) strategy, the Commission Recommendation on Effective Active Support to Employment (EASE), and the European Education Area). The main goal is to enhance skills and competences mainly in the areas of circular economy and digitalization. Therefore, to foster further economic development and competitiveness in Austria, adaptations in higher education towards green and digital transition are needed. Furthermore, given the important role that industrial engineering and management (IEM) graduates play in the economic, societal, and environmental development of society, through innovations and technology applications, a special focus should be placed on the up-to-date education of IEM students. In this paper, the requirements for future IEM graduates were surveyed within the framework of the Austrian IEM study. The job profile study is conducted by the Austrian Association of Industrial Engineering and Management (WING) every four years to identify trends and developments in the IEM discipline. Thus, a transparent insight into the educational content and training opportunities and the possible occupational fields and functions should be ensured. The results can be used as a starting point for potential professionalization efforts. For the methodological approach in this study, both secondary data research and primary data from a questionnaire survey were combined to be able to incorporate literature-based findings and empirically collected data into a future competence profile. As part of the secondary data analysis, all Austrian higher education institutions – universities and universities of applied science - were surveyed with a special emphasis on the specific content of the current IEM studies, including parameters like structure, process, focus, etc. The survey used online questionnaires by focusing on the respective target groups of students, alumni, and personnel managers in companies. Furthermore, the authors analysed the required knowledge, skills, and competences of IEMs in operations management (OM) for the main application areas of purchasing, production, and sales. Based on theoretical and empirical analyses, this paper provides preliminary empirical-based recommendations for competence profiles for Industrial Engineering and Management students in Austria.