VolkerWessels and Amsterdam municipality conclude ‘social deal’
VolkerWessels and the municipality of Amsterdam today concluded a 'social deal' to provide job opportunities for people distant from the labour market. The agreements builds on the positive experiences that both parties recently had with the TalentHub, a social project of Level 5 to which VolkerWessels makes a significant contribution. The agreements were ratified by Rutger Groot Wassink (alderman for social affairs of the municipality of Amsterdam), Jan de Ruiter (chairman of the Board of VolkerWessels) and Martin van Baekel (director of Level 5) and apply for at least three years.
Both VolkerWessels and the municipality of Amsterdam consider it important to involve people distant from the labour market in the employment process. This is why VolkerWessels is one of the partners of and investors in the TalentHub of Level 5, a project in which around 30 people with a distance to the labour market are supported towards work each year within the Amsterdam region. The City of Amsterdam assesses the effectiveness of this project as 'high', and therefore concludes an agreement with VolkerWessels that will make the deployment of employees from the TalentHub in projects in the Amsterdam region even more attractive and thus give it an extra boost.
Social return
In construction and infrastructure projects for the City of Amsterdam, companies are already obliged to carry out a certain part of the project with people distanced from the labour market, known as 'social return'. These can be people with a mental or physical disability, former prisoners or addicts, but also people returning to work. Finding meaningful and permanent work is an important but complex challenge.
The TalentHub has proven to guide a very high percentage of people to meaningful and permanent work and thus achieve a great social impact.
Rutger Groot Wassink, alderman for Social Affairs of the municipality of Amsterdam: "A job and an income provide security and peace of mind. I am pleased that VolkerWessels wants to work with the municipality of Amsterdam in the coming years to help people find work. Only if government and employers work together can we tackle the structural mismatch in the labour market."
Jan de Ruiter, Chairman of the Board of VolkerWessels: "The cooperation with the TalentHub and the City of Amsterdam is hugely important to us. Through our projects and services in the city, we can guide more people to meaningful and permanent work faster. This is good for VolkerWessels, good for the Amsterdam economy and society, but above all for people themselves. After all, participating in the work process offers an opportunity to be meaningful, to develop yourself and to be able to provide for yourself."
Cees de Wijs, CEO VolkerWessels Infrastructure: "VolkerWessels has believed in and invested in the TalentHub from the very beginning. For us, the TalentHub is a great example of corporate social responsibility, 'social return' and circular work in the infrastructure sector. It is very well applicable in the practice and projects of this sector. The employees (re)discover where their passion and talent lies and at the same time learn about work on the construction site. The goal is that they then move on to one of our projects.”
Photos are free to use citing Linders Fotografie
