Trade unions and employers in transport and logistics are making an extra subsidy available for the training of 1,250 new truck drivers, via the "Stichting Opleidings- en Ontwikkelingsfonds Beroepsgoederenvervoer" (SOOB).
The social partners FNV, CNV, VVT and TLN know that the demand for well-trained drivers remains unchanged. And they can see that the recruitment campaign ikwordvrachtwagenauffeur.nl of the Sector Institute Transport and Logistics is very successful: less than two months after the kick-off, the target of 750 lateral entrants has almost been achieved. The number of people moving through is also well above expectations with more than 500. "We really need more drivers" says Jan Boeve, chairman of SOOB and director of TLN. "And in this sector people can get real jobs and not just individual assignments. That's why we make this extra money available."
More and better candidates
The recruitment of new drivers by the Sector Institute is now also more successful than in recent years. In quantity and quality of the candidates. Boeve: "In 2016 and 2017, 2,670 lateral entrants were brought in via the sector plans. A further 2,000 will be added for 2018. And we are succeeding better and better in addressing the right candidates. People who consciously choose this profession. More and more often relatively well educated: three quarters of the upcoming truck drivers have a MBO plus level. Compared to previous years, a much larger percentage of our tests passed."
More flow
"In addition to the side-entry students, the current campaign pays a lot of attention to employees who were already active within the sector and want to move to the position of freight watch driver," says Willem Dijkhuizen of FNV Transport & Logistics. He continues: "Given the growth of the sector, it is necessary for new truck drivers to come from outside. We can not fully absorb growth from our own sector. But we will always continue giving priority to the employees who are already active within the sector, for example as a logistics employee or as a forklift truck driver. For this group, the new campaign is looking for a new function with a contract for an indefinite period. More than 500 employees have made use of this opportunity in the past two months. It shows that within our sector we provide employees with room for further growth through training."
Major regional differences
"There are still striking differences between the various regions", says Tjitze van Rijssel of CNV. "We have seen employers move when they experience the scarcity themselves, and it is only worthwhile to organize recruitment meetings. In the north we are going to hold meetings for the first time this month. There are now sufficient vacancies and candidates. In the south, on the other hand, we notice that the number of candidates is starting to become scarcer."
Source: TLN