News from Amsterdam


To the front page

11/1 Jurists want to stay in Oudemanhuispoort

8/2 Mayor’s portrait

8/2 Websites for social cohesion

7/2 Spreading tourism proceeds with difficulty

7/2 GroenLinks on districts: Be a man

6/2 Zuideramstel opens new office on Sabbath

5/2 The truth about integration

4/2 Wilders has little support on Amsterdam

3/2 Elite involved in neighbourhood

2/2 Johnnie Walker avoids taxes in Amsterdam

1/2 Rotterdam to tinker with district councils as well

31/1 Wooden rowing boats to disappear from Amstel

31/1 ZeeburgTV launched

27/1 Privacy activists to mess up loyalty card system

27/1 A few were still coughing, but that was an act

27/1 Chrisis in de Baarsjes

26/1 Youth have positive view of districts

24/1 Action groups call for Carmel and Jaffa boycott

24/1 PvdA members dismiss plan for districts

23/1 KLM takes on crisis with new uniform

23/1 District office not squatted

21/1 Merge districts

20/1 Closing squat bar Vrankrijk not necessary

20/1 Cleaners welcome new Schiphol director

18/1 Palestine at the Jewish Historical Museum

18/1 What is the right size for a district?

17/1 PvdA Oost against fewer districts

16/1 Committee: 7 districts by 2010

15/1 Soldiers may attend Afghanistan debate after all

15/1 Bait bike leads to arrest

14/1 Youth for Christ to republish vacancies

13/1 Paintings of the Zuidas

13/1 New Youth for Christ contoversy

11/1 Social cohesion initiative raises eyebrows

10/1 Fewer districts in 2010

10/1 Zuidas: People feel that we are losers

9/1 Fun on the ice - but not for all

9/1 Supermarket coupon fraud thwarted

9/1 I Amsterdam must remain exclusive

8/1 Use term Apartheid in every discussion

8/1 No city kiosk in Amsterdam yet

7/1 Snow

7/1 Fatima Elatik to run Zeeburg

7/1 Municipal managers to return to shop floor

4/1 Police: take photo of strange people

3/1 Gaza protest criticises politicians

1/1 Thousands to protest against attacks on Gaza

1/1 Mustapha Laboui leaves district council

 

2008 Archive

2007 Archive

2006 Archive

2005 Archive

 

 

 

 

‘Jobs on the side not the answer to labour shortage’

7 February 2008 - Businesses fear they may miss out on economic opportunities because of labour shortages. They want to tackle this problem by launching a website to recruit young people. However, FNV Jong - the youth branch of the labour movement - argues for better employment conditions.

“The current labour shortage is the most important impediment to economic development in the larger Amsterdam region”, employers’ organisations say. Especially small and medium enterprises (SME’s), with their seasonal and part-time jobs, could solve some of their problems by recruiting more young people.

However, many young people have little idea of what SME’s have to offer. A new website is to bring young job seekers and SME’s in contact with each other.

Chairwoman Judith Ploegman of FNV Jong says that in itself, this is a ‘good initiative’, if only because SME’s are important job creators. However, she also points out that labour shortages occur mainly in sectors with poor employment conditions.

“The rise of the number of people with jobs on the side and part-timers with small contracts does not contribute to improving those conditions. Continually trying to meet labour shortages by offering more jobs on the side is like carrying coals to Newcastle”.

She says SME employers could become more attractive to job seekers by offering young workers the chance to obtain a permanent contract, by offering them more control over working hours; employment with a guaranteed number of working hours; and good fringe benefits.

Image: FNV Jong and other organisations inspect employment conditions at a supermarket. MKB, jobs on the side, FNV Jong (all in Dutch)

 

Want to receive News from Amsterdam? Click here

 

This is the old website. Please find new content here