“Good ICT staff is hard to find; and once you do find someone, the turnover rate is high. People have another job offer in no time,” says Guido Geerts, CEO of Delft Imaging Systems. Guido supports our MATCH project, aimed at supporting Dutch companies from all sectors that have struggled for years to find the right staff.
The pandemic has been a source of challenge, but also innovation for the MATCH project team. While the physical relocation of highly skilled employees from Senegal and Nigeria is near-impossible under current travel restrictions, Dutch companies have responded positively to the project’s offering to support remote work and upskilling.
As the world adjusts to working-from-home arrangements and online meetings, remote work is becoming more and more appealing to Dutch companies who want to tap into highly skilled talent pools within Africa, and who want to establish a stronger foothold for themselves.
The MATCH project recently supported a Dutch company active in seed and agriculture technologies. They struggled to find the right staff member through their own recruitment efforts, and so MATCH stepped in to find their ideal candidate from a pool of thousands of highly skilled Nigerians.
“This is a win:win:win arrangement” confirms Mia McKenzie, MATCH focal point for the Netherlands: “The company was looking for an extremely specific profile, and we made it happen. Now this successful candidate is receiving a 6-month training in Senegal and will return to Nigeria to build the Dutch company’s base there. Through MATCH, the company benefits from highly skilled staff and the recruit now has a promising career path ahead of him. Also, Nigeria is going to reap the rewards of competence that the recruit will return from Senegal with – not to mention the possibilities for further recruitments once this Dutch company scales up its business in Nigeria.”
The project’s aim to bring together African and European expertise, which is interesting for Dutch companies looking to grow their business outside of Europe. Many Dutch companies are making the most of this time of international travel restrictions to recruit, upskill, network and enjoy the benefits of remote recruitment. We can hardly wait to see what the rest of 2021 has in store.
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To learn more about the MATCH project, click here. Interested in discussing your company’s recruitment needs, or to organize a matchmaking session with candidates, please contact Mia McKenzie: mmckenzie@iom.int
Published by IOM News in the Netherlands
