Report FME CWM - What makes high tech internationals tick?
The problem of ageing has made the international ‘war on talent’ more acute. Dutch high tech employers have recently mapped their competition: why do knowledge workers opt for The Netherlands and, more importantly, why do they not?
The Dutch population is ageing. The baby boom generation is ageing and will retire soon, resulting in a huge hole in the job market. This development is particularly noticeable in the high tech systems industries, a sector which has steadily grown over the past decades. Not only are many technicians retiring, the inflow of new graduates is also decreasing. At an event on mobility and preferences of international knowledge workers, the Dutch employers' association FME maps its competition.
Find out their motives
"In order to attract international knowledge workers, you should know what your unique selling points and your weaknesses are", Jos van Erp (FME Representative High Tech Systems Platform) says. "Also you should know more about the characteristics and motives of international knowledge workers to be able to respond to specific needs." FME explored the link between the characteristics of knowledge workers and their motives to come to the Netherlands and their opinion about their new living and working environment.
According to the report, Dutch strengths are: a strong knowledge infrastructure and a good reputation of companies and research institutes. Respondents value the language skills of the Dutch and the possibilities of developing a career next to the high standard of living. Jos van Erp: "Active branding of these qualities should therefore get priority. Dutch migration policy should be changed to accommodate the influx of international knowledge workers, procedures for IKW's should be made easier A third challenge is the fact that the Netherlands has the image of being boring. Again, here branding could provide help."
In the battle for foreign high tech talent, the following regions are the main competitors for the Netherlands:
- London
- Baden-Württemberg
- Southern and eastern Ireland
- Bavaria
- Île-de-France
- Copenhagen
- Rhône-Alpes
- Lombardia
- North Rhine-Westphalia
- Frankfurt
- Cataluña
The most - and least - important motives for moving an living in the Netherlands are the following:
Top 5 most important factors Top 5 least important factors
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Top 5 best rated factors Top 5 worst rated factors
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Jos van Erp thinks that the Dutch high tech industries should promote the fact that a Dutch environment is a multi-lingual environment and that foreign knowledge workers experience many career opportunities. "Conversely, Dutch companies should repair the negative image of little openness towards foreigners and problems with healthcare", Van Erp states.