Six thick binders full of job applications are in his cupboard. Menno van der Kwast has been trying to get a job at his level for ten years now. But the former technician and manager from Deventer doesn’t get any further than what he calls ‘tens of jobs’. Temporary flex jobs below his level, including in call centers.
Tight on the labor market? Van der Kwast (53) notices little of this. He has already heard every possible rejection: you live too far away, you are too experienced, too inexperienced, you must be too expensive, you are not a woman.
Since the summer, there have been more vacancies than unemployed. This makes the labor market exceptionally tight. You would think: that is good news for people who normally find it more difficult to get a job. People over fifty, the disabled, people with a migration background.
But that is disappointing, these people notice themselves. Hard figures are still lacking, but there are indications. An recent survey among members of the trade union CNV, for example. Half of the more than 270 unemployed over-45s surveyed said they still receive many rejections. Three quarters had the impression that employers prefer younger applicants.
“To compare it with the housing market: employers are looking for turnkey employees,” says Joop Schippers, professor of labor economics at Utrecht University. An employee must immediately meet all requirements.
Also read: Will the staff shortage continue to be so great?
Van der Kwast often hears after his job applications that his knowledge is outdated. “But then again, I can’t brush up on my knowledge if I never get hired.” His problems started in 2003. During a reorganisation, he lost his job as a manager in technical departments at KPN. At that time, unemployment was soaring and job opportunities were poor. When the economy recovered, Van der Kwast had a hole in his resume, and his dependence on low-paid flexible jobs began.
Van der Kwast still has to “fight against prejudice”, he says. His age doesn’t help. Employers seem suspicious: if someone has worked below their level for so long, there must be something wrong. In recent months, now that employers are complaining about staff shortages, Van der Kwast has been rejected several times.
I can’t brush up on my knowledge if I’m never hired
Menno van der Kwast Former Technician and Executive
Professor Schippers saw the same problem in earlier times of shortage, such as around 2007. “Even then, employers did not jostle each other to hire the elderly or people with a disability.”
Extensive studies have been done on this. For example, scientists asked employers: imagine that your vacancy can only be filled by someone who does not meet all your requirements. What do you do then? “Remarkably many employers chose to delete the vacancy,” says Schippers. “They said: then we will outsource the work to Asia. Or we tell the client that we cannot carry out the order.”
High demands
Employers continue to set high standards for the personnel they recruit, Saskia Rosmalen also notes. She is director of Unlimited aan de Slag, a social enterprise that helps disabled people find work. With staff shortages increasing, Rosmalen is getting more interested employers on the phone – yes. But the number of people she hires through her company is not increasing yet.
Employers often do not want to make concessions, Rosmalen notes. It often runs out of hours. Employers want full-time jobs, many disabled people seek part-time jobs. Rosmalen: “A limitation simply costs energy.”
There is structurally more unemployment among the disabled. The latest CBS figures about all people with a work disability date from 2017. At that time, almost 670,000 disabled people were counted as part of the labor force. Nearly 10 percent of them did not have a job, but were actively looking for one. This was 4.5 percent of the entire working population.
What doesn’t help, says Rosmalen, is the image that exists of disabled people. “People often think of ‘Annie’ in sheltered employment, who sticks stickers on a box. And of course there is an Annie, but there are also a lot of other people.” Half of the job seekers registered with it have theoretical training: at MBO-4 level or higher.
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Natalie Korteland (28) for example. She completed a higher vocational education (HBO) education in food technology three years ago. She is good at her job, has an eye for detail and she also has autism. She mentions this in job applications, because it gives employers the right to support from the UWV benefits agency. A financial compensation, for example if Korteland becomes ill. “Often they don’t understand that and they find it complicated.”
Since her graduation, Korteland has never had a job at her level. She applies widely: not only for laboratory positions that fit in well with her education, but also for vacancies where her job prospects are greater, such as in logistics. She often hears her rejection that a full-timer is being sought. She wants to work four days a week.
According to professor Schippers, it is time for employers to think in a different way. “Not from the vacancy you have, but from the job seekers that are available.” A motivated fifty-something who has too little experience? We train them. A disabled person who does not meet all the vacancy requirements, but who can perform a number of useful tasks? Then we shift some tasks within the team.
Also read: The staff shortages are back, so how do you bring in people?
Employers who don’t think so smoothly can still get away with it. But the labor shortage will persist or become even more acute in the coming decades. Schippers: “This will put an end to the luxurious position that employers have had for three quarters of a century, in which they had personnel to choose from.”
Discrimination will not go away
The following applies to people with a migration background: even if they meet the requirements, they have on average less chance of being invited. Tightness in the labor market does not seem to change that.
Occupational sociologist Valentina Di Stasio, assistant professor at Utrecht University, participated in a major European study into discrimination in job applications. This showed that people with a migration background in the Netherlands are about 20 to 30 percent less likely to be invited for a job interview.
This put the Netherlands in the European middle bracket. “We saw more discrimination in the UK and Norway, less in Spain and Germany.” Even more striking, the researchers saw just as much discrimination in vacancies in sectors with large staff shortages, such as for software developers, as in vacancies where there are no shortages.
New standards
As an IT professional with a migration background, you have better job opportunities than as an administrative assistant. But that is still 20 to 30 percent less likely than an IT professional of Dutch descent.
Di Stasio also expects that the job prospects of people with a migration background will improve in these times of shortage – because that chance improves for everyone. But their deprivation will not change for the time being, she thinks.
Schippers still has some hope that employers will start thinking more inclusively. The persistent shortage forces them to do so, but the norms in society are also changing. He mentions the entry of women into the labor market since the 1960s. “At first many people thought it was strange to see a female bus driver. In the same way, people could get used to the fact that a person in their sixties is still very vital as an employee. And when companies hire someone with a migration background for the first time, they can gain positive experience and spread it.”
Van der Kwast hopes that he will not need a new binder for his application archive. He will soon complete his training to become a driving instructor. He expects that this will significantly improve his job prospects. “If I have that piece of paper, I can start a new path. That gives me energy, a future perspective.”
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A version of this article also appeared in NRC Handelsblad of 30 October 2021
A version of this article also appeared in NRC in the morning of October 30, 2021
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