Because the average age is increasing, proportionately more people are retiring these days. Technology companies thus lose knowledge and experience: “That is also a problem,” Robben indicates. “We give technicians who want to contribute something to the company after their retirement the opportunity to stay employed for a while. This is mainly to transfer knowledge.”
Robben does not know why there is currently little interest in working as a mechanic: “Traditionally people have thought: it is a dirty profession, you have to work under the floor, it is dangerous work. I then think: It is very nice to make something with your hands, because you can also see what you have made. When working on the computer, you just sit behind that screen.”
With the rise of heat pumps and other installations, technology companies have to switch: “That makes the profession even better than it already is,” says Robben about the challenge.
If the campaign does not generate enough new, young workers, then the country will have a problem, Robben thinks: “We now see that we occasionally hire foreign workers to do jobs and that is a shame, because we also have “We have large groups of people who do not yet participate in the labor market. Or people who are still at school, while they could also have been working.”
The campaign focuses on young people who are faced with the choice of which course they will follow. In addition, the trade organization wants to reach people who currently work in another industry, but are ready for a career change.
26-year-old Dennis Hartman from Emmer-Compascuum made such a change and is now following a training course in addition to his work. He is an assistant mechanic and learns a lot from his experienced colleagues. “Some have been in the profession for thirty years. I have just been in the profession for a year. I learn new things every day. I come from Defense, and I’m from home every week. That made me faint.”