Quarter of employers still looking for five-legged sheep

Despite the huge labor market shortages, a quarter of employers are still looking for the sheep with the five legs. Hiring someone who, for example, is recovering from a burnout, is disabled or has been unemployed for a long time is not an option in many cases.

People over 60 are the most likely to be employed, although 16 percent are not waiting for that either. This is according to research by Pro Contact, conducted among 300 Dutch entrepreneurs and senior managers in companies of various sizes and at least 10 FTEs.

Rather deal with business loss than personnel shortage

A quarter of those surveyed say they would rather lose business than offer a job to any of the above. This while there were as many as 450,000 job openings in April, according to CBS. One in three (35%) say they would only hire someone who does not meet their ideal image in extreme emergencies. In the survey, these include people with autism or a chronic condition, the physically disabled, ex-prisoners, people who have money problems or have been addicted, status holders and the long-term unemployed. People with fatigue syndrome have it tough all the way around: as many as 42 percent of those surveyed consider the chances of hiring him or her slim to none.

The survey also found that employers are still regularly filling in the opinions of their customers and staff. 19 percent expect customers to refuse to do business with someone who does not fit the company profile. Nearly four in 10 (37%) think his or her staff will not accept an ex-prisoner.

"Let's put first that fortunately a large part of entrepreneurs are indeed open to hiring a non-obvious person. But this movement is still far too slow and there is still a world to be won," responded Noud Baijens, founder and director of Pro Contact and initiator of the study. "It surprises me that there are apparently still companies that have such a rigid attitude when it comes to their hiring policies. If this attitude does not improve and people who do not fit within the 'perfect picture' are not taken seriously, we are going to see the extreme situations like at Schiphol Airport during the May vacations much more often. If you are looking for large groups of people, like Schiphol or the Port of Rotterdam where there are really thousands of vacancies, you will really have to look at your requirements. Only companies looking for just one or two people can still do it in the traditional way. After all, the group as described above is the only way out for many companies to reduce personnel shortages, in any sector."

Source: Pro Contact, press release May 20, 2022