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- 1 in 3 Dutch companies are finding it difficult to find employees with relevant job experience.
- There is an acute shortage of technical know-how in the Netherlands: 4 out of 10 businesses are having difficulty in finding people with the right technical qualifications.
- Although a majority of companies claim that older employees work just as well or even better than younger employees, only 8% of them expect to hire more people aged over 50 than they did last year.
- Dutch businesses are doing slightly better than last year as regards dealing with an ageing population, but score relatively low when it comes to lifelong learning.
Utrecht, 12 November 2008:
Dutch companies are still not taking adequate measures to deal with the ageing population in the labor market, as shown by a study conducted by the Adecco Institute, a think-tank and research center focusing on the future of employment. The study shows that Dutch companies are facing a shortage of staff with technical and commercial skills. More than a quarter simply cannot fill the vacancies they have. As many as 72% of employers think that this problem can be solved by employing more older workers and keeping them at work for longer. Only 8% however are prepared to back this up with real plans to employ more older people to address the skills shortage.
In the survey, HR decision-makers at 501 Dutch companies were asked to state how they were dealing with the ageing of the population. The questionnaire concerned crucial areas such as: employee career guidance, lifelong learning, the promotion of a healthy lifestyle in the workplace, skills management and diversity. On the basis of their responses in these areas, companies were given a score of between 100 and 400 points. The average score for Dutch companies in 2008 was 183 points, slightly better than last year’s score of 181. This year, the Netherlands was just behind Germany and the UK (each with 186 points), and before Belgium and Italy (each with 182 points), Spain (180), France (174) and Switzerland (172). Click on survey for an overview of the survey results.
Erwin van Iersel, CEO Adecco Benelux, made the following comment: “Dutch companies seem to be having difficulty in finding ways to deal with the ageing of the population and the workforce. They are having considerable problems in filling vacancies and attracting skilled personnel. They also recognize the problems and have even identified some solutions, yet they still have not taken the necessary measures to deal with the situation.”
Note for editors:
More information on this press release or the survey results is available from Rinus Wittenberg, Adecco Nederland, tel. +31 (0)30 2475569, e-mail:
Rinus.Wittenberg@adecco.nl
DFX 2008 Survey general results
Dutch companies are having difficulty in finding (skilled) personnel to fill vacancies.
- Dutch companies are having difficulty attracting the right candidates. The survey shows that 1 in 4 Dutch companies are experiencing difficulty in filling their vacancies.
- In the Netherlands, the main shortages are of staff with the right technical or commercial skills, with 40% and 25% of respondents citing this problem respectively.
- 1 in 3 Dutch companies are finding it difficult to find employees with relevant job experience.
Dutch companies appear to recognize the scope of the problem
- 38% of Dutch companies have conducted a full analysis of the age structure of their workforce, the first critical step that companies need to take to determine how workforce ageing will impact them in their particular circumstances.
- 94% (compared to 58% in Europe) of employers believe that responsibility for managing workforce ageing lies within the company itself. 72% recognize that the skills shortage can be resolved by keeping older employees working for longer.
- In a previous Adecco client survey (the Global Satisfaction Survey), 55% of Dutch employers stated that finding the right personnel was the biggest obstacle to growth in the next five years.
Dutch companies do therefore recognize that the ageing population forms a threat to the continuity of their business processes in future. The overwhelming majority also stated that the solution would have to come from within the companies themselves.
Despite this realization, Dutch companies still lack adequate responses to workforce ageing and the lack of skilled workers.
- Dutch companies are still looking to young employees to address their talent shortages. 84% of all firms surveyed believe that skills shortages can be addressed by improving the education system and the transition from school to work, apparently ignoring the reality that school leavers will comprise a shrinking portion of the workforce.
- Dutch companies are still reluctant to hire people aged over 50. Only 8% expect to hire more people aged over 50 this year compared to last year, a decline of 5% compared to the results of the survey in 2007.
Remarkably, Dutch employers report that their experience with employees aged over 50 is generally positive. A large majority of companies (87%) state that older employees are just as good or even better than younger employees, and 9 out of 10 actually think that older employees are more motivated.
Specific results in the five areas of readiness
‐ Career management and guidance
- In the Netherlands, coaching programs are still the most popular tool, and are offered by 72% of Dutch employers. Individual career programs are growing in popularity and are now offered by 65% of employers, compared to 57% in 2007.
- Employee take-up is however low at 28%, and below the European average of 36%. The low take-up raises questions regarding the effectiveness of these tools.
- Lifelong learning
Dutch companies offer a wide variety of lifelong learning tools, but only 46% of Dutch employees use the tools available to them (vs. 51% in the rest of Europe). Dutch companies are thus underperforming in this area compared to other European countries. Often, this is because employees do not have the time to make use of the tools available. More than half of the Dutch companies surveyed (55%) started new initiatives in the area of lifelong learning last year.
- Knowledge management
- 66% of the companies surveyed stated that they maintain standardized records of business-critical knowledge. The Netherlands thus scores much higher in this area than the rest of Europe, where 55% maintain such records. Two out of three Dutch companies use targeted training to renew knowledge, again indicating the strong emphasis in the Netherlands on training as a standard tool in the workplace. li>On the other hand, the survey revealed that only a third (33%) of the respondents had made a full inventory of the key knowledge holders in their business, or of the risk that knowledge will be lost if one of these critical employees were to leave. Moreover, fewer companies (34% versus 42% in 2007) are maintaining awareness of what company-specific technical knowledge is involved. This indicates a trend of a decreasing emphasis on company-specific technical knowledge, which could be due to the difficulties experienced by Dutch companies in attracting technical talent.
- Health
- Although 72% of Dutch companies offer medical check-ups at work, only 8% offer dietary advice and just 4% offer back strain reduction programs. Dutch companies score remarkably well on healthy catering, but long-term health promotion programs remain the exception.
- Here too, employee take-up of the facilities on offer is declining (54% vs. 69% in 2007), indicating that the facilities are failing to attract interest.
- Diversity
- Dutch firms are strong in areas that are typically mandated by law, including age-neutral job advertisements and appointments and equal opportunity for all age groups.
- Team-building seminars are held by almost half of all firms, but only one in three hold junior-senior round-table sessions or have set up working groups of mixed ages (two effective tools for exchanging information within a company). Conclusions
The DFX Survey provides qualitative and quantitative information on the extent to which European companies are prepared for the rapid ageing of the population. With an average score of 183 points on a scale of 100 to 400, Dutch companies should be concerned about their present position even though progress has been made compared to the previous year.
Demographics is not rocket science. All the measures companies can take in the areas of career management, lifelong learning, health management, knowledge management and age diversity are simple to develop and implement, as well as relatively affordable.
“For the Netherlands, like other European countries, the ageing of the population is a fact,” says Erwin van Iersel. “There will be a shortage of available labor in the near future, not only because of the ageing but also because there will be fewer people coming into the labor market. Some companies see the demographic challenge as still in the remote future. Sooner or later however, they will be forced to appreciate the potential and real contribution made by older employees. The ageing of the workforce is both a challenge and an opportunity.”
The full results of the survey can be downloaded from http://www.adecco.nl/ or are available on request from Rinus Wittenberg, tel. +31 (0)30 - 24 75 569, e-mail : Rinus.Wittenberg@adecco.nl.
About the Adecco Institute
The Adecco Institute is established as a research center to make a social contribution by providing information regarding employment and the effects thereof on individuals, regions and organizations.
Further information on the Adecco Institute can be found at http://adeccoinstitute.com
About Adecco
Adecco S.A. is the global leader in HR solutions. The Adecco Group puts 700,000 people to work every day, and has a network of 36,500 employees and 6,700 offices in more than 60 countries. More information can be found at www.adecco.nl
Contact Adecco NL:
Adecco Nederland
Rinus Wittenberg
T: +31 (0)30 - 2475569
E : Rinus.Wittenberg@adecco.nl
Contact Adecco Institute:
Shepard Fox Communications
Axel J. Schafmeister
Tel. +41 44 252 0708
axel.schafmeister@shepard-fox.com
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