Electricians, plumbers, production managers, maintenance and installation engineers… there are nowhere near enough of them and the shortage in the industrial sector is only going to increase. The Dutch Economic Institute for Construction (EIB) expects that more than 100,000 new workers will be needed by 2023 in order to meet demand. According to the EIB, coronavirus will have little effect on this in the long term; after a contraction in 2020 and 2021, rapid recovery is likely to follow. And so the problems of high work pressure will continue to play a role, with high rates of absenteeism due to illness, attrition and dangerous situations.
In 2019 the Netherlands had a huge housing shortfall of around 250,000 homes. Existing houses must be made more sustainable and workers are also needed for other categories such as offices and infrastructure. Compounding the problem, clients are increasingly threatening to impose fines if the work is not completed on time. Some construction companies even regularly use employees who are not adequately certified, resulting in dangerous situations.
A positive work environment leads to long-term employability
According to research conducted by the EIB, around half of operational technical and administrative staff experience a high to very high workload. This work pressure results in work-related stress, poor sleep, mental health issues and reduced work efficiency. Employers report that all of this leads to more mistakes being made in the workplace.
High work pressure is also reflected in absenteeism due to illness, which rose from 5.8% in 2019 to 6.7% in 2020. This makes absenteeism levels in industry the highest across all sectors. According to the Netherlands Institute for Social Research, the focus on long-term employability is not (yet) high on the agenda in the industrial sector. “In this sector, long-term healthy employability is something that needs attention. Staff loss due to illness or incapacity for work is high compared to other sectors.”