When the first application round for the Stap budget opened at the beginning of March, not only was the website raided by so many interested parties, but also Karien van Gennip of Social Affairs and Employment was amazed. In her previous job as chairman of the board at health insurer VGZ, it had always cost her the greatest possible effort to interest employees with school desk trauma in retraining and further training. Now 35,000 Dutch people stood in the digital queue for hours for the training budget of 1,000 euros per person.
The second round of the subsidy scheme will open on Monday, for which a total of 160 million euros has been budgeted for this year. From figures that de Volkskrant has requested, it appears on what the first 32 million euros was spent – and that is in any case not on courses in shortage sectors. Where the basic nursing course was chosen 28 times, the course ‘nail styling with acrylic gel’ welcomed 123 students. More than two hundred courses with the name ‘coaching’ were followed, compared to 24 in education.
Nevertheless, Van Gennip believes that the government has ‘hit the mark’ with the subsidy scheme, which has replaced the tax deduction for training costs. Because it reached exactly the target group that until recently hardly did any retraining or further training: the practically trained. ‘With that tax deduction you had to earn quite a bit of money to be able to deduct it and you had to advance it yourself,’ says the CDA member. ‘As a result, highly educated people in particular made use of it. Now you see that more than half of the applicants have a maximum of MBO.’ Moreover, there were relatively many flex workers among the applicants.
The fact that the training spot was found by so many workers is undoubtedly due to its low threshold. Every over 18 year old can freely spend 1,000 euros at one of the more than 20,000 certified courses. Albeit on one condition: that the training is used in a ‘labour-market-oriented’ manner. Van Gennip: ‘It should really help you further in your career.’
How did the eyelash extensions and wine certification courses get through the balloting?
‘Eyelash extensions, whatever you personally think, are part of working in a beauty salon. And I think it’s better for someone to work in such a salon than to be on welfare or have a job that doesn’t make him happy. With regard to the wine certificate, you must be able to demonstrate that it is necessary for your career, for example because you want to grow in the hospitality industry. Someone who works in the administration and just enjoys having a glass of wine with friends on Saturdays, that’s not going to happen.’
How is this checked?
‘A trainer must demonstrate that his activity is relevant to the labor market. Maastricht University has developed a tool for this, which contains a number of questions. The trainer must also meet a number of quality marks. We have set up an assessment room at Social Affairs to monitor this. It looks at both the providers of the training and those who follow the training and can also enforce it.’
What can be maintained?
‘If things really get ugly, for example when a trainer offers courses that are not of good quality or when he commits fraud, you can reclaim the money he has received. You can also exclude citizens who do not comply with the conditions from subsequent applications for two years. But of course there will be a conversation first: what are you doing? We are still working out how to deal with this.’
The most chosen courses are ‘growth marketing’, ‘digital leadership’ and ‘digital marketing’. Wouldn’t you rather have seen a plasterer, educational supporter and nurse standing there?
‘I think this top 3 is fine. The world is changing rapidly and that also means that the demands we place on people are changing. Whatever job you have, everything will become more digital. Then it is important to acquire digital skills, so that you remain relevant. But your broader question is of course: what are we doing to entice people to choose professions that we so desperately need? We all have policies and actions for that. However, this budget is focused on what people want. If they choose to retrain to a shortage sector, that’s great, but this is about learning the skills for an individual to be employable for a long time. There is still a shortage now, but that may be different in a few years.’
But in a sector such as healthcare, the shortages will only increase. Isn’t this an excellent opportunity to take control and say: we have enough marketers in this country, we need nurses?
‘We are working on shaping the broader policy for labor shortages. In four or six weeks we will take it to the House of Representatives.’
But why has this opportunity not been seized to do so? For example, by only offering training in sectors where the need is high.
‘Then you first have to agree on which sectors those are. It’s too early for that now and you also just want people to be able to acquire general skills, such as digital skills or language, no matter what sector you are in. The Stap budget is just one of the pillars of lifelong development.’
More than two hundred different coaching courses have been followed from the budget, such as walking coach and child emotion coach. In recent years we have already seen a growth in people who made themselves independent and started working as coaches. Does such a training lead to a better labor market position?
‘Then you go back to your own direction, that personal responsibility to choose a degree program that is in high demand. If someone has a deep intrinsic motivation to become a coach, can demonstrate this and therefore wants to switch to that sector, then that is possible. We live in a free country.’
Isn’t it smooth sailing that someone with the Stap budget takes one course to become a child emotion coach and then hires out as a coach to a vulnerable target group?
‘There are a number of professions in the Netherlands that have a protected title. You can’t just call yourself a dentist, but there are also many professions that do not have a protected title. What you can ensure with this budget is that the trainers who offer those courses are in any case good trainers.’
The second application round for the Stap budget opens today. Have changes already been made?
‘We have more quality marks than last time, which broaden the range of trainers and courses. And this time we are better prepared, both in terms of technology and website. We strive for everyone who wants to be able to visit the website, although the budget will also run out at some point. This is how the scheme is set up: the budget is released five times a year, so that we can monitor and evaluate what is happening extensively. This training scheme is really a learning scheme.’