"Labor shortage demands extra effort to retain employees"

The sector is doing well and that is noticeable in the demand for labor. Marianne: "Two years ago, we had an oversupply of jobless people and there was actually too little demand for labor to find a job for everyone. Now the situation is completely reversed and the customers are queuing up for employees. With the required additional efforts we still manage to meet the demand for labor."

Michael Koers of employment agency Watch Out also notices, based on the demand for labor, that the sector is doing well. "At the moment it is the busiest period of the year. The growth is now going so fast that we can hardly keep up with the labor demand. We are doing our utmost to recruit enough personnel and hope that in a few weeks the situation improves somewhat."

In order to recruit sufficient employees, Watch Out focuses on visibility. Michael: "We place ads and present our company as much as possible. 99% of our employees are Polish, and we have good experiences with them."

When recruiting employees it is increasingly important to be distinctive. Michael: "Workers are very much in demand and our Polish employees are discovering more and more that they stand a chance of getting higher positions in companies."

In the meantime, retaining employees is at least as important as both agencies realize. Marianne: "Retaining employees is not just the job of the employment agency. It must be a joint effort, also from the grower. Because the employees will work for the grower and must feel at ease over there."

At abflexkracht they try to be distinctive by just giving that extra attention to their employees. This can be done through a newsletter in Polish and English, but also by briefly reflecting on Labor Day. Marianne: "We noticed that many Polish employees had the day off on Labor day." Also the participation of the Polish national football team in international tournaments was a reason for extra perks for the employees. Marianne concludes with a tip for the grower: "Be sure to invite your part-time workers to barbecues and parties and also give them a pat on the back once in a while."