High work pressure. Falling colleagues. Endless administration. Working in the public sector is no longer fun for many people. Just a little while and then no one wants to become a teacher, agent or nurse in the Netherlands, warns the SER. So social employers must take action. To make the work manageable, attractive and perspective-rich again.
Important and useful advice from the SER, I think. But if we really want to keep things healthy, a lot more is actually needed. As a society, helped by our government, we will also have to take a more honest look at ourselves.
Our social sectors are inundated by work that we produce ourselves. 17.4 million people behave as they see fit. And care, education and the police are allowed to clean up the mess afterwards. A few examples.
Concern Healthcare is bursting at the seams, but in the meantime we live on it. We eat wrong, exercise too little, stress, smoke and drink. And wear a bicycle helmet, why?
Currently, more than half of us are overweight. Of course we do not consciously choose this. It is a complex interplay of ability, will and environment. That is precisely why a more robust prevention policy would be welcome. Including heavily pricing what is bad for us. maybe some say NRC-readers: I can easily regulate my own movement, tobacco and alcohol use, diet and stress. I understand. But then show solidarity with the very many in our society, including your loyal columnist, who could use some help in this area.
Education You don’t often hear teachers complaining. In the meantime, they are talking amongst themselves about the major problems they are confronted with in the classroom. Such as: many children who learn bad Dutch at home. But also: children whose parents are too busy to raise them. In all cases the following applies: the attention, care, exercise and education that our children do not receive at home, that is what our teachers and masters pay for. And most of them already work far more hours as standard than they are being paid for.
Law enforcement Police officers really are the mess clearers of our country. According to the Trimbos Institute, more than a million Dutch people used cannabis in the past year, more than half a million pills and nitrous oxide, and almost a quarter of a million cocaine. A week ago I read in this newspaper that drug use among students is considered completely normal. A quarter smoke weed and many students regularly buy something to swallow or sniff.
What we talk too little about: this lifestyle is one of the lifebloods of organized crime in the Netherlands. And the problems that arise from this can then be solved by our police.
Sometimes you get the feeling that the Netherlands is a large festival site where visitors can let off steam and a group of underpaid, anonymous people come and muck out the place afterwards. If we really want to show solidarity with our nurses, teachers and officers, then perhaps we should not ask them to mop smarter, better or more fun, but turn the tap a little further ourselves.
Ben Tiggelaar writes weekly about personal leadership, work and management.
A version of this article also appeared in the newspaper of May 28, 2022