More than one in three C-level executives in the North of the Netherlands said that the labour shortage was currently their main challenge, according to a survey conducted by Groningen software company Klippa.
In a statement, Klippa said that their research was conducted among a diverse group of Dutch executives, of which almost a third are leaders of business organisations from Groningen, Drenthe, and Friesland. The results of the survey were published in December. Klippa received responses from 100 individuals.
“I’ve personally witnessed the struggle to find new talent as our company grows. To me, it’s no surprise that almost 40% of northern top executives we surveyed felt the same way. The need for fresh talent in these demanding times is very high”, said Klippa CEO Yeelen Knegtering.
For the majority of the executives in the Randstad (29%) their most pressing concern was the lack of capital for investments. The labour shortage was however still their second most cited issue, mentioned by 25% of corporate decision-makers in the Randstad.
The results of the survey confirm statistics published by the Dutch Employee Insurance Agency UWV. According to the UWV, the labour market has been tightening in the north of the country, with Groningen, Friesland, and Drenthe seeing some of the worst shrinkage.
Knowledge sharing can make a difference
Klippa’s survey respondents also indicated some solutions to the challenges they’re facing. They recommended that organisations should work with partners, such as universities and recruitment professionals, build networks, and find innovative ways to reach more labour force to mitigate the current crisis. Increasing employee engagement and retention, as well as intelligent automation are also seen as ways to address the issue.
“This is exactly why knowledge sharing is valuable – it enables organisations to solve problems through tested solutions. The labour crisis remains a real problem that our company is facing as well. However, we do experience an improvement after we started collaborating with partners such as Northern universities, and built up our network to present ourselves as an organisation that’s always on the lookout for talent”, Yeelen Knegtering added.
About the survey
The C-Level Insights Survey was answered by a group of diverse C-level decision-makers representing companies that are either Dutch or with professional connections to the Netherlands. The majority of respondents are CEOs (60%), followed by CTOs (11%), CFOs (9%), and other C-suite executives. They work across 18 industries, in organisations of all sizes: from small to medium-sized businesses and up to world-renowned corporations.
