It is becoming increasingly difficult for landscaping companies in the province to find experienced staff. Municipalities that want to go green and private individuals who increasingly have their gardens maintained mean that there is more work in landscaping. That is why 71-year-old retiree Jan Joosten from Deurne steps in as a gardener. “It’s hard for me to sit at home,” he laughs.
Jan works on an on-call basis at Van Houts two to three days a week and is mainly concerned with the maintenance of gardens and green areas. Despite his age, he finds the work anything but difficult. He is hoeing in the bright sunshine and with a big smile on his face.
He is desperately needed at the landscaping company where Jan works. It is difficult for the company to find experienced staff. “I have more inexperienced people in my team than experienced gardeners. That actually has to be balanced,” says gardener Niels van Houts, owner of the company.
Yet Van Houts can find people, partly through lateral entrants such as 71-year-old Jan Joosten, who enjoys working for him. “I have been retired as an account manager for twelve years, but sitting at home is not for me. When I responded to a call from Niels about six years ago, I was able to start quite quickly,” he laughs.
“Thanks to his years with us, Jan has built up a lot of experience, which means we can put him to good use. But you need experienced gardeners to design and build gardens,” says Niels.
In addition to Jan and a few experienced gardeners, two boys who are still in training work. “There are very few students in their class,” says Niels. According to the collective labor agreement, wages for a job as a gardener start at 2,500 euros gross per month and rise to around 4,000 euros gross per month. On average, someone in the landscaping industry earns about 3,500 euros gross per month, but that salary seems to attract few young people.
Fewer hands
Mart Hoppenbrouwers, director of Van Helvoirt Groenprojecten from Berkel-Enschot, also notices this. “I think that more and more young people are continuing their studies. We are getting fewer and fewer MBO trainees who work in practice, and more and more HBO trainees who do more office work.” But he needs the hands from practical education.
Experienced gardeners are needed to train this new recruit. “But they are difficult to find,” says Hoppenbrouwers. “Within our entire company, which falls under the Eijk Group, there are currently 70 vacancies open for gardeners, tree growers and other positions in landscaping.”
According to him, the fact that it is so difficult to find experienced staff in the industry is also due to the growing demand for gardeners. “Cities have woken up and want to become greener. Healthcare institutions, business parks and housing associations are also increasingly focusing on this.”
More and more work
Wouter Struijs of landscaping company Groen-Visie in Schijf is receiving more and more work from private individuals. “Garden construction and maintenance are a luxury product, but they are being used more and more. There are couples who both work and do not have time for garden maintenance, but there are also elderly people who want to live at home longer and can no longer keep up with the garden,” he says.
Struijs often works with experienced self-employed people. “I have a good group of people, but I could use a permanent employee and it is not easy to find one,” he says.
Just like Hoppenbrouwers and Van Houts, Struijs hopes that the new generation of gardeners will grow with the industry. “But I worry about that,” Hoppenbrouwers fears.
