The Dutch temporary employment group OTTO Work Force from Venray is trying to help the families of Ukrainian temporary workers to flee to Poland.
They are taken to the border by bus, which they then have to cross themselves. “After the border, we will receive them again and arrange shelter,” says CEO Frank van Gool after previous reporting by NU.nl.
Hundreds of beds
OTTO has a total of about 3000 Ukrainians working in Poland. For example, they work in logistics or assemble electric motors for Toyota. If their family would like to leave Ukraine, Van Gool will meet them. He has arranged hundreds of beds in Poland near the border with the neighboring country in recent weeks.
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Dire cases
During the day on Thursday, dozens of people had already used or indicated that they wanted to use his help. But there would also be “dire cases”. In that case, for example, a man works in Poland and his wife wants to cross the border with a four-year-old child, he explains. As a parent, you only need certain papers to take a minor child with you. In Ukraine, according to Van Gool, this must even be arranged at the notary, and not everyone has done this in advance.
OTTO itself also has about a hundred employees in support offices in Ukraine. There are no Dutch people among them. Furthermore, Ukrainian temporary workers are actually only active in Poland, and not, for example, in the Netherlands. Van Gool says that it is very difficult for someone from Ukraine to get a work permit in the Netherlands, but it is easy in Poland because of an old treaty between Poland and Ukraine.
‘Largest employment mediator’
The company, headquartered in Venray, has been in existence since 2000 and claims to be the largest international employment agency in Europe. In countries such as the Netherlands, Germany and Poland, a total of more than 25,000 flex workers are employed via OTTO.