How distant from the labour market?

The manufacturing industry is of course much more than just what it literally means. The industry of making. The fact is that a lot has to be assembled. Much more than you would think at first glance and that makes companies constantly look for partners who can do the assembly quickly and efficiently. Preferably at the lowest possible cost.

The Participation Act is there to help people who can work but need support. These people have a so-called 'Distance to the labour market'. In the Netherlands, there are around 75 companies that play a pivotal role in this. The 'Social Workshop' of yesteryear are now Development Companies. 'A much better name for what we do,' says Rutger van 't Hoff, Group Manager at Promen, one of 15 development companies that three years ago intensified their existing cooperation in terms of jointly approaching the market. In fact, there had been cooperation in other areas for some time. 'That eventually resulted in us being together at this fair in 2024 under the name Samenwerkende Sociaal Ontwikkelbedrijven Zuidwest Nederland,' says Van 't Hoff.

Van 't Hoff: 'In daily practice, it turned out that assignments sometimes could not go ahead because there were not enough people to do the job, or not the right machines and tools to tackle it. Assignments were then lost. And that while not too far away, another development company could meet the demand but did not know the assignment.' Good mutual contacts resulted three years ago in the establishment of the Samenwerkende Sociaal Ontwikkelbedrijven Zuidwest Nederland. 'It was actually very simple,' says Van 't Hoff. 'Because of this cooperation, we are now able to tackle large projects. In a multitude of disciplines and with broad technical expertise. After all, we complement each other. Make no mistake. Within the cooperation, we have around 10,000 people we can deploy.

'What is extra nice is that we can increasingly offer our employees work that fits their skills much better,' says Van 't Hoff. 'As a result, they are much happier in their work, confidence is higher and we sometimes make surprising discoveries about which work can all be picked up. And let's be honest... how much more fun is your work if you really enjoy it?'

'Our employees really deliver a top job,' says Van 't Hoff. 'They and we are proud of that. However, they do need a bit more time than the average employee to master the work themselves. After that, there is no noticeable difference. Very nice to see how that comes together every time.

A few months ago, Van 't Hoff took the initiative to suggest participating in ESEF Maakindustrie. Normally, one would have gone down the stand as a visitor, but participating as an exhibitor seemed better. And that turned out to be true. 'In consultation with the other companies, we set ourselves a number of targets and we achieved them after just one day. Participation is definitely worth repeating. People come to us now. We are much more visible. It has already generated a nice pile of leads.

Van 't Hoff: 'The current cooperation has a clear impact. Together, we can have about 10,000 employees. Just imagine what can happen if 75 companies cooperate nationally or regionally. We can then take on even bigger and more complex assignments, which is good for the diversity of work.
Ultimately, we would like to see the employees to whom the labour market is now distant (instead of the employee is distant) happy because they can use their talents.

Would you like to meet the South-West Netherlands Association of Social Development Enterprises? You can do so until Friday in Hall 3, Stand A041, at ESEF Manufacturing Industry. For more information, visit werkse.nl.

Photo left: Yori Lieuwes, right: Rutger van 't Hoff