The arrival of Ukrainians offers more and more companies a solution in solving the staff shortage.
Companies in Venlo are also happy with the arrival of the Ukrainians. Garden Center Leurs, for example, has 28 open vacancies. There would have been more had it not been for the Ukrainians. These refugees came to the company through the mediation of a selection agency that is affiliated with Venlo Foundation supports Ukraine†
New requests
This foundation previously established a clothing bank and arranges shelter and medical aid for refugees from the Ukraine. “The money earned by sending Ukrainians out is donated to the foundation,” says Wouter Knippenbergh. He is co-owner of the selection agency. This has now helped fifty Ukrainians to find work. At Leurs, thirteen of them work in different departments, such as in the catering industry and cut flowers. Communicating is a small problem, although Google Translate offers a partial solution. By wearing a badge it is made clear to the customers that they do not speak the Dutch language.
Wanted by employers
Ukrainians are therefore welcomed with open arms by employers in Limburg, because it has been difficult to fill open vacancies for some time. Many sectors are struggling with staff shortages due to the strong recovery from the corona crisis. Especially the companies that had to lay off employees during the corona pandemic, such as the catering and retail industry, are struggling to find staff.
CBS confirmed this on Monday afternoon. In a report, Statistics Netherlands announced that the untapped labor potential in Limburg is relatively low. Only in the other two southern provinces, North Brabant and Zeeland, is the unused labor potential at 8.5 percent slightly lower than in Limburg. In other words: there are not many Limburgers left who can work, because the vast majority of them are already working as much as possible.
Share wants to work more
A total of 9.2 percent of all Limburgers aged 15 to 75 wanted to work (more) than they were doing at the time. Most are underutilized part-time workers (total 3.8 percent). These are people who work part-time, but would like to work more hours and are available to do so. In addition, there are 2.7 percent unemployed and 2.7 percent semi-unemployed who would like to get back to work.