What will be Minister Van Gennip's next move?
Tomorrow afternoon the Labor Market Policy Committee debate is scheduled. On the parliamentary agenda are a number of important topics, such as the report of the Borstlap Commission and the Labor Market Outline Letter of July 5. Ahead of the debate, Marion van Happen is happy to share her views on the current proposals on the table in political The Hague.
First of all, I would like to emphasize that I am positive about the first outline letter from the Minister of Social Affairs and Employment. The three tracks mentioned - the level playing field, regulatory clarification and improving enforcement - are the right knobs to turn. If seen and dealt with in conjunction, I see the contents of this letter as a step in the right direction.
Established criteria supplemented by sectoral approach
I welcome the attention given to the Belgian Labor Relations Act in the outline letter. The thinking and underlying principles offer an opportunity to replace the DBA law. The Labor Relations Act establishes clear legal criteria for determining whether one is an employee or a self-employed person. Criteria have also been established at the sectoral level for sectors and professions where the likelihood of underpayment or vulnerable entrepreneurship is greatest. This approach increases the effectiveness of enforcement and does more justice to the diversity of self-employed workers.
What also makes enforcement more effective and targeted is the SER's MLT recommendation to introduce a legal presumption of employment below the hourly rate of €35. The SER's proposal thus distinguishes between vulnerable self-employed people and self-reliant self-employed people. This allows the tax authorities to focus on the sectors and professions where self-employed workers are hired under this rate. Clear and legally defined criteria plus a sectoral approach are a good starting point as far as I am concerned.
Embedding in the organization
Then I'll jump to the authority criterion, surely a hot topic in this dossier. In my opinion, this is the crux of the discussion: when can an organization hire a self-employed person for a particular job and when is it an employee? For various reasons, the DBA law has failed to provide this clarity. That the Cabinet recognizes this and is working toward replacing it is crucial.
The Borstlap Commission proposes to modernize the authority criterion by making "embeddedness in the organization" more central to the assessment of the employment relationship. I am not in favor of giving this criterion more weight, because there is already enough debate over the interpretation of when authority exists. When is a worker "embedded in the organization"? And what tasks belong to "the regular work of an organization"? In practice, I see just the opposite happening. Hybrid teams with different specialists working on a project basis on solutions and issues of importance to the organization at that time. These are often teams where there are different forms of contracts. The results of the recently published CBS survey support this picture: employers consider the "type of contract" much less important than previously thought. Factors such as knowledge, expertise and work experience are much more important. Will this soon no longer be possible if we deal too rigidly with authority and embedding in the organization?
Great diversity zzp population
In addition, I question the modernization of one general authority criterion. After all, in the Netherlands we are dealing with a very diverse self-employed population. This group of workers has diverse assignments, works for different hourly rates and the duration of assignments is also very different. One authority criterion for this entire target group will therefore not work in my view. We need more customization.
The web module, in its current form, also does not sufficiently take this diversity into account. It only tests for the aspects of being an employee and does not sufficiently take into account aspects of being self-employed. As a result, the arrow can only move in one direction and that is the direction of "indication of employment.
In the recent budget of the Ministry of Social Affairs and Employment, I read back that the web module is being further developed to provide clarity on the nature of the employment relationship. To make the web module somewhat operational and reliable, I recommend that the questions and assessment also take self-employment into account. This will result in more balance in the answers.
Clear rules first, then enforcement
With regard to enforcement, I read back that enforcement will resume on January 1, 2025. I agree that enforcement needs to be started. The way in which and how this will be rolled out, I still see some bumps in the road. The coalition of industry associations states in their joint letter - quite rightly, by the way - that enforcement will only be effective if the ground rules and criteria are clearly established at the front. For all parties involved - the Tax Office, intermediaries, principals and zzp'ers - this must be clear. My appeal to The Hague is therefore: take the outstretched hand of the industry associations and enter into discussions with implementing organizations about enforceable criteria. Let us as intermediaries be an extension of the implementers. We are pre-eminently the parties in the labor market with knowledge and expertise.
In the coming months we will keep a finger on the pulse and remain involved in relevant developments. At the end of this year I expect more clarity about the next step with the second outline letter and a progress letter 'Working on a self-employed basis'. As the largest HR-tech service provider, we will of course remain in dialogue with our stakeholders in The Hague and will pull together with our partners.
By 2030: 1 in 10 in Dutch labor market IT professional
Currently, one in seventeen people in the Dutch labor market is an IT professional. In ten years, this has nearly doubled. At the current growth rate of nearly seven percent per year, by 2030, one in ten of the labor force will be an IT professional. That said, the battle for salaried and temporary IT professionals, self-employed and employed by secondment companies, is in full swing. Sourcing pressure - the percentage approached at least once a quarter - is unprecedented at nearly 65 percent, especially given the 37.6 percent average for the entire workforce
IT workers gone mainstream
Analysis by HR tech service provider HeadFirst Group and labor market data specialist Intelligence Group shows that by September 2022, the demand for salaried IT professionals (25,000) will be almost eight times greater than the demand for IT professionals (3,000). Geert-Jan Waasdorp, director and founder of Intelligence Group, says: "IT professionals have lost their special place in the labor market. The field is no longer a niche, but an integral part of business operations. To have IT knowledge properly embedded in the organization, more IT professionals are needed on a permanent basis. Supplemented by temporary IT professionals, who bring specific IT knowledge."
As a result of this rising demand, the occupational group is classified as the tightest in the UWV's stress indicator - the number of vacancies open divided by the number of people receiving unemployment benefits for less than six months. Despite the number of IT workers increasing by 6.9 percent year on year
Recruiting IT professionals remains difficult
Currently 580 thousand people work within IT occupations. The part that is employed has an extremely low labor market activity of 6.8 percent. Compared to the entire Dutch labor force, this is about half (11.5 percent). The proportion of IT workers with permanent jobs who are not looking for new work at all in the second quarter of 2022 is 42.7 percent. Just over half (50.5 percent) are latently - or not actively - looking and only 6.8 percent are actively looking. The labor market activity of IT professionals is more mobile: the number of active job seekers is 22.4 percent, 46.9 percent are latently looking and 30.7 not at all.
Marion van Happen, CEO HeadFirst Group, explains, "There is increasing competition among organizations to get the attention of latent job and assignment seekers. With the use of labor market communication, the emphasis is placed on selling the vacancy or assignment and the job or client. Salary and other benefits have become hygiene factors, the content and relevance of the work are now the critical recruitment factors."
On Tuesday, Oct. 18 at 10 a.m., the survey findings will be shared in a webinar. You can register via the Intelligence Group website. After that, the full Talent Monitor will be made available at hfgroup.headfirst.group.
Gender equality is not a women's issue
If we want change to happen, men need to be part of the conversation. Therefore, together with @BrandedU, we are publishing a white paper compiling the conclusions of Men as Advocates for Women's Visibility. This well-attended Summit took place in June at our headquarters in Hoofddorp, with both Chairman of the Board Han Kolff and CEO Marion van Happen on stage.
This white paper was written to shed light on the stories and examples of men who have used their leadership positions to influence gender equality in their own organizations. BrandedU gathered these leaders to inspire and influence more men, especially those in positions of power, to incorporate alliance and advocacy to perpetuate gender equality. The list below summarizes the various strategies that were discussed:
- Strategy #1- Use your privilege: Use your privilege to open doors for women.
- Strategy #2- Create a safe space to be authentic: Hold yourself accountable to create inclusive spaces.
- Strategy #3- Start by breaking the rules: Use your position as gatekeeper to change the rules, or better, break them!
- Strategy #4- Practice curiosity: Ask questions, even the uncomfortable ones.
- Strategy #5- RESPECT. Be the one to show your emotions.
Of course, this is not an exhaustive list of actions that can be taken by male leaders to advocate for women's visibility and gender equality. It is a list compiled from inspiring stories and experiences of men who have taken the steps described above and influenced change within their own organizations. We hope it inspires you too!
Take advantage of all the benefits of Select Professionals services, even if you don't work through our platform
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Prompt payment of invoices through ENTRPNR
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Comprehensive insurance through Alicia
Carefree independence is knowing that risks are well covered. With Premium, you are very comprehensively insured for:
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- Accident Insurance: soften the financial blow if you become permanently disabled or die in an accident. Active 24 hours a day and worldwide, including outside of work.
- Business travel (with Excellent only): Assists you if something goes wrong while you are traveling for work, either abroad or in the Netherlands.
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Tools for learning & development
Get a little smarter every day with our learning & development tools.
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Personal contact & advice
In these times of increasing online contact, the personal touch is essential. A relationship manager is there for you to answer all your questions, as well as for advice on such things as your resume, what rate is smart to offer on an assignment and other tips for selling yourself well.
You can also call DAS's Legal Advice Desk free of charge about all your legal questions and issues. And with the Documents Selfservice, you can have your legal documents ready in no time. These services are provided by our partner Alicia.
Why our services?
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Arrange everything today!
As a self-employed person, you have plenty to do. Fun jobs, but also less fun jobs. And what is less fun, we like to postpone. So those jobs like collecting invoices, arranging insurance or other peripheral matters all stay on your to-do list. Meanwhile, you have that recurring, nagging voice in your head telling you that you really have to get on with it. With Select we offer the solution to silence your inner voice. Because with Select you can organize all your affairs with playful ease today.
For more information on all the benefits of the Professionals services, visit the Select website at https://select.hr/services/. Fill out the form directly here to get everything arranged today.
Accelerated rate hike averaging 10.3 percent for self-employed and secondees in 2022
More than 3 percentage points higher than forecast in December 2021
Flexible workers, more specifically, self-employed workers and professionals employed by secondment agencies, have increased in price by an average of 4.7 percent in the first six months of 2022. Over the whole of this year, 10.3 percent rate increase is expected, with inflation and scarcity being the driving forces. This is according to data and the rate forecasting model from labor market data specialist Intelligence Group and HR tech service provider HeadFirst Group. This exceeds the average agreed wage increase for permanent staff, which remained stuck at 3.1 percent for the first half of 2022.
Inflation and scarcity drive hourly rate up further
The hourly rate is expected to increase by an average of 10.3 percent by the end of the year. More than 3 percentage points more than HeadFirst Group and Intelligence Group predicted in December 2021. Geert-Jan Waasdorp, director and founder of Intelligence Group: "On the one hand, this acceleration is due to faster rising inflation and persistent scarcity in the labor market. On the other hand, the uncertainty around corona has diminished, which was there at the end of 2021 and then caused a little pressure on pricing."
Increase in salaries continues to lag
Salaries are also experiencing record increases, according to recent figures from the employment conditions advisor to Dutch employers AWVN. A record monthly average of 3.8 percent in June puts the average agreed wage increase for the first half of 2022 at 3.1 percent. This does leave salaries behind the Central Planning Bureau's inflation forecast of 5.2 percent on average and the average rate increase of professionals.
Marion van Happen, CEO at HeadFirst Group: "Flexible workers benefit faster from rate developments due to the succession of different zzp assignments. Naturally, it also means that rates are more likely to fall in a less scarce labor market and lower inflation, which rarely if ever happens with collective bargaining agreements. Thus, entrepreneurs - which is what zzp'ers and secondment agencies are - bear both the joys and the burdens of the important, flexible role they play in keeping our labor market, and thus our economy, running."
Auto mechanics farm well
Auto mechanics can expect the largest hourly rate increase this year at 15.9 percent, followed by printing and arts and crafts workers and welders and sheet metal workers (15.4 percent). In addition, metalworkers and construction workers, radio and television technicians, software and application developers and cabinetmakers, tailors and upholsterers are predicted to benefit from an hourly rate increase of about 15 percent. Construction finishers can expect the lowest hourly rate increase at 6.8 percent, followed by plumbers and pipe fitters (7.3 percent). In addition, hourly rate increases for carpenters, structural construction workers and painters and metal sprayers are not predicted to exceed 8 percent in 2022.
The Talent Monitor "Update - forecast rate development professionals 2022" is available for free download at hfgroup.headfirst.group.
HeadFirst Group included in 'Soonicorn Club of the Netherlands Tech 2022'
Tracxn, a global platform for tracking innovative companies, has included HeadFirst Group in the Soonicorn Club of the Netherlands Tech 2022. It annually publishes an exclusive list of the most promising Dutch Tech startups, which have reached important milestones in the past few years. We have been named Soonicorn, placing us alongside leading organizations such as Otrium, WeTransfer and Bux.
The Tracxn Soonicorn Awards is an initiative by Tracxn to publicly recognize the best companies in different regions and sectors. In addition to the well-known Unicorns, they also identify companies that may soon become Unicorns (the Soonicorns) and those that have the potential to become Unicorns in the long term (the Minicorns). These ratings are based on detailed analysis by in-house teams of industry specialists, combined with multiple publicly available signals such as market size, investment by major investors, execution excellence and future growth prospects.
Tilt toward platform organization
We've been making strides as an HR service provider for years, but we're also taking big steps toward becoming a platform organization. For example, in the past year we have achieved major milestones, such as the migration of all Between Staffing Group agreements, accelerating Robotic Process Automation (RPA) to robotize labor-intensive processes with many repetitive tasks, and setting up a central service desk to register incoming contacts. We also invested heavily in developing our platform, technology, security and user experience to optimize our core processes. This has not gone unnoticed and has led to a spot on this exclusive list.
Soon to be a UniCorn
As far as we are concerned, it doesn't stop at a Soonicorn designation. This year, we are continuing to build a perfect balance between tech and touch, which is essential in our services and industry. Our group already consists of our own hiring platform Select and collaborations with external VMS partners, recently we further broadened our HR tech portfolio by adding ProUnity. An innovative tech company, a digital native platform organization, with a sense of personal touch. Just a first step in our goal to surpass the already great result next year with a Unicorn designation.
HeadFirst Group acquires Belgian HR-tech company ProUnity
Mutual reinforcement of tech and touch opens new perspectives
HeadFirst Group acquires Belgian, award-winning HR-tech company ProUnity. With this acquisition, the group takes an important step in its internationalisation and platform strategy. With the acquisition, HeadFirst Group triples its existing business in Belgium, thus gaining a prominent position among the large service providers in the field of hiring talent.
Platform organization
ProUnity operates in the Belgian market as a Managed Service Provider (MSP) with its own marketplace and Vendor Management System (VMS). With its unique combined offer, it helps organisations to find and manage external staff via a single platform quickly and efficiently. By adding ProUnity to HeadFirst Group, the Dutch group broadens its HR-tech portfolio, which already consists of its hiring platform Select and collaborations with external VMS partners. In this way, it increases the flexibility in solutions for its clients. ProUnity will retain its name and management team.
Marion van Happen, CEO at HeadFirst Group: "ProUnity is an innovative tech company, a digital native platform organization, with a sense of personal approach. This has earned them a Deloitte Technology Fast 50 award two years in a row. HeadFirst Group was originally an HR service provider and is now making the switch to a platform organization. The perfect balance between tech and touch is essential in our services and industry. ProUnity will be an accelerator in this."
David Muyldermans, founding partner at ProUnity, is delighted with the cooperation: "After our rapid growth, this new step together with HeadFirst Group comes at the right time for our team, our clients, and our subcontractors. ProUnity already works for large and international companies, and we see their demand increasing. Now we can offer them an even stronger answer. We make each other stronger and will continue to blossom, as people and as organizations, with respect for everyone's identity."
Internationalization
ProUnity serves over forty clients, mostly large profit companies and Belgian organizations in the public domain. HeadFirst Group already has a Belgian office since 2016. With the addition of ProUnity, it triples its existing business in Belgium. With this scale, HeadFirst Group can serve clients internationally even better, which fits its further-reaching strategy toward an international platform organization. Van Happen: "In that respect, ProUnity also fits well within our group. Just as we are now growing with our Dutch clients abroad, we aim to do the same with Belgian clients. Above all adding value in organizing talent in this scarce labor market. By clever use of platforms, with an international supply of professionals - on location, remote and hybrid - where borders are literally and figuratively blurred by corona."
HeadFirst Group acquires Belgian HR tech company ProUnity
Mutual reinforcement of tech and touch opens new perspectives
HeadFirst Group acquires Belgian award-winning HR technology company ProUnity. With this, the group takes an important step in its internationalization and platform strategy. With the acquisition, HeadFirst Group triples its existing business in Belgium, gaining a prominent place among the major service providers in the hiring field.
Platform Organization
ProUnity operates in the Belgian market as a Managed Service Provider (MSP), with its own marketplace and Vendor Management System (VMS). With its unique combined offering, it helps organizations quickly and efficiently find and manage remote employees through a single platform. The addition of ProUnity to HeadFirst Group broadens the Dutch group's HR technology portfolio, which already consists of its own hiring platform Select and collaborations with external VMS partners. In this way, it increases flexibility in solutions for its clients. ProUnity retains its name and management team.
Marion van Happen, CEO at HeadFirst Group: "ProUnity is an innovative tech company, a digital native platform organization, with a sense of personal touch. That has earned them a Deloitte Technology Fast 50 award two years in a row. HeadFirst Group is originally an HR service provider, which is just now making the tilt towards platform organization. The perfect balance between tech and touch is essential in our service and industry. ProUnity will be an accelerator in this."
David Muyldermans, founding partner at ProUnity, is excited about the partnership with HeadFirst Group: "After our rapid growth, this new step together with HeadFirst Group comes at the right time for our team, our clients and our partners. ProUnity already works for large and international companies and we see their demand increasing. Now we can offer them an even more powerful answer. We make each other stronger and will continue to blossom, as people and as organizations, while respecting each one's identity."
Internationalization
ProUnity serves over forty clients, mostly large profit companies and Belgian organizations in the public domain. HeadFirst Group has already had a Belgian office since 2016. With the addition of ProUnity, it triples its existing business in Belgium. With this scale, HeadFirst Group can serve clients internationally even better, which fits its further-reaching strategy towards an international platform organization. Van Happen: "In that respect, too, ProUnity fits well within our group. Just as we are now growing abroad with our Dutch clients, we aim to do the same with Belgian clients. Above all, by adding value in organizing talent in this scarce labor market. Through smart use of platforms, with an international supply of professionals - on location, remote and hybrid - where the boundaries have been blurred by corona, literally and figuratively."
Perfect growth partner on the road to international and optimal data-driven organization
Geert-Jan Waasdorp, Rotterdam native and entrepreneur at heart, is founder and owner of labor market data specialist Intelligence Group (IG). IG and HeadFirst Group work together in the field of data exchange and providing unique data insights to the market. In addition, IG guides us in the path to an optimal data-driven organization.
In addition to his role within IG, Waasdorp is (co-)responsible for many other companies and brands, including Werf&, Academie voor Arbeidsmarktcommunicatie and SkillsCV. "The common thread is always labor market and data," Waasdorp says. "Everyone with a professional recruitment team, comes to a point where they need our data. The ambition is to make data really indispensable for organizations. In addition, we want to further expand and stimulate data exchange in Europe." This makes Intelligence Group a perfect growth partner for HeadFirst Group on the road to becoming an international and optimal data-driven organization.
Predicting with data
Every year at Werf&, Waasdorp traditionally presents his recruitment trends for the new year. "Embrace platform technology," was one of Waasdorp's advice to organizations in late 2021. "Candidates are a consumer of labor. They want to be able to compare easily. Platforms make comparison possible." A second piece of advice reads, "Give the candidate the choice of contract type. The role is the same, so don't limit that on the front end in this scarce labor market by putting out a job posting with one contract type as a focal point." The role of trend watcher that Waasdorp takes shows his knowledge of the labor market, but also his ambition to be predictive with data. And that is precisely where HeadFirst Group's ambition lies as well.
"We started building a house, the foundation is there and now we are building the floors."
Growth Partners
Trust is the most important foundation for Waasdorp to build on. "With HeadFirst Group we have built the trust that allows us to develop together in the role of data in the organization and beyond," says Waasdorp. With the partnership launched in 2021, the foundation has been laid and the first successes have been achieved immediately: the exchange of data on the permanent and flexible labor market has been started, we presented the first editions of the Talent Monitor, which from now on will appear quarterly, and we presented - to a long-cherished wish - a rate forecast for 2022. In 2022 we will continue on this footing. We are taking a step towards further data maturity, which we are going to see reflected in, for example, next level client reports, and more predictive power based on data.
This interview appears in our Annual Report. Curious about other interviews or our results and strategy? Then read the entire report.
"Working together to make change possible."
Hans Biesheuvel, founder of ONL voor Ondernemers, has been an entrepreneur at home and abroad for 35 years. With all the knowledge and experience he has gained in these years, he is committed to one goal: to make the voice of many entrepreneurs heard by politicians.
With ONL, Biesheuvel is closing the gap between the business community (the self-employed and SME organizations) and The Hague. By bundling information and translating it in such a way that it ends up on the political agenda. "Lobbying, raising problems and creating support are crucial here. But certainly also offering a solving and helping attitude in realizing this," Biesheuvel explains.
ONL has the influence to bring about real change. For example, after the corona outbreak there was immediately a plan with recovery measures, which was almost completely followed by politics. But also substantive input on the future of the Dutch labor market was included in the Borstlap Committee report. This input was created in collaboration with HeadFirst Group, similar to reports such as 'De zzp'er bestaat wél' and 'Een kijkje over de grens', and plays an important role in influencing the political agenda.
"It's better to talk with each other than about each other. Our office in The Hague is the place for that. Working together to make change possible."
In the past two years, politics has been lived by the subject of corona, while important dossiers await. The energy transition, the housing market and certainly also the labor market require attention. Biesheuvel: "It is time to take decisions. Even if we continue to be inundated by a tsunami of problems, it is important that we look ahead. And we are providing the right handholds for that."
This interview appears in our Annual Report. Curious about other interviews or our results and strategy? Then read the entire report.