Contractor company Sietsema in Uithuizen is looking for personnel and placed a remarkable advertisement in the Ommelander Courant. ‘Purchasing advantage if you are doing odd jobs at your (in-law’s) house.’ Project leader Aart Jan Bos (50) from Uithuizen knows more.
This is a very attractive vacancy. How did you come up here?
“We thought: we are looking for people, how do we take a different approach? So it was this way.”
You can borrow tools from the company, leave early to pick up the kids. How many responses have you already received.
“This morning at 7 o’clock we received one e-mail. We also get a lot of phone calls, but because Vodafone is out, that doesn’t work very well. Hopefully that problem will be fixed soon.”
What kind of company are you?
“Very social. If you want a day off, you can always schedule it. We always were, but not everyone knew that yet. With other bosses you have to request everything far in advance. A lot of people don’t like that at all. That can be a motivation for a carpenter to change employers.”
And you can do odd jobs with your mother and mother-in-law for cheap
“Our staff can use the benefits that we also have as a company. They can buy wood through us. That is cheaper than at the construction market.”
I read that you get a good salary, what is the starting salary?
“That is just the salary according to the collective agreement. An apprentice carpenter starts at seventeen euros gross per hour. Someone with a lot of experience gets twenty euros.”
The construction industry is facing a major labor shortage. How big is the problem for you?
“There are currently more orders than before. We now have two vacancies. The growth of young carpenters and women has been stagnating for years, even though this is a wonderful profession. We restore churches, towers, farms… Real craftsmanship.”
What do other construction companies think of this?
“There are also contractors who specifically approach carpenters to come and work for them. We don’t. People are free to do whatever they want when they read the ad.”
You are explicitly looking for carpenters. Why?
“There are few carpenters. We are trying to change that. Coincidentally, we now have an apprentice carpenter. It’s just starting.”