The labor market faces many challenges, not only in the energy sector. There are also significant personnel shortages in ICT, healthcare, education, and childcare. At the same time, these challenges offer the potential to solve problems that reach beyond the labor market alone. Tackling multiproblems. A balanced society in which prosperity and well-being are accessible to everyone is about more than just access to the labor market. It also involves combating poverty, diversity and inclusion, and an equitable care system.
As the Human Capital Agenda (HCA) of the Topsector Energie, we constantly monitor developments in the labor market; our position enables us to observe what is happening and thereby identify bottlenecks. We are informed and updated about these bottlenecks by various parties with whom we work closely. When urgency arises around a bottleneck, we isolate and address it. We bring together relevant parties and help to take the first steps. When the initiative or project takes off, we let it go.
Bottlenecks
The labor market of the future calls for a system change and to look beyond the problem that presents itself; what is really going on, and who is actually responsible for providing the solutions? The overview below shows what we are currently working on.
Women in the Energy Transition
The energy sector is gender-blind, and this needs to change. Plus, there is a tremendous opportunity for a double impact: countering the labor market tightness in the energy sector and simultaneously combating energy poverty among women.
The Platform Talent for Technology has asked 75INQ to investigate this topic and come up with an approach, at the request of the Topsector Energie. The research brought the two worlds together based on a desk study and conversations with various stakeholders and gave recommendations for breaking this blindness. The sector must learn from the few good examples.
Read further here and download the report.
Career Switchers
Approximately 80% of the (future) jobs for the energy transition must be filled by career switchers. But how do you reach these career switchers? How do we attract labor potential from other sectors and motivate them to leave their current study or job? How do we utilize labor potential from abroad, or the UWV, etc.?
In 2022, BLdP was commissioned to pilot a broadly supported communication approach about working on the energy transition and how it can be jointly deployed. This pilot resulted in a coordinated communication approach.
Read the results of the pilot here.
And click here for the communication approach.
Future-Proof Companies
Both the research on women in the energy transition and combating energy poverty, and the communication approach for career switchers, show that there is a third party that plays a significant role in solving the labor market tightness: the business world. In addition to having the right skills, experience, and training, there are other (environmental) factors that are important for attracting and retaining labor potential. Think of good onboarding programs and (additional) training 'on the job,' opportunities for arranging the work-care balance, flexible working hours.
What can companies do to let (unused) labor potential land in their organizations and retain it? The HCA team will tackle this question in the coming period.
