Technology group expands pilot mobility project

Download article in original language : NL9904137NNL.DOC

In March 1999, the board of directors of the Dutch technology group, Stork, decided to extend the operations of its subsidiary Stork Mobile, which had been established in early 1998 as a pilot project to improve Stork Group employee mobility and "employability".

In early 1998, the Dutch technology concern Stork Group, which has over 20,000 employees worldwide, established a new subsidiary, Stork Mobile (NL9707122N). Its primary goal is to accommodate workload fluctuations across the various other Stork subsidiaries. Such fluctuations result in annual costs estimated at NLG 200 million for hiring additional staff from temporary employment agencies in subsidiaries where the workload has risen, and at NLG 60 million for redundancies in subsidiaries where the workload has fallen. The aim is that a flexible workforce employed by Stork Mobile will be used to optimise the allocation of staff within the group, thus reducing these "friction" costs substantially. Furthermore, Stork Mobile is responsible for providing services to employees seeking to improve their "employability" by obtaining additional training and broader work experience through job mobility. Training and placement activities are the responsibility of Start Holding, a major Dutch temporary employment agency that owns a 33% stake in Stork Mobile.

A number of studies to assess the needs for flexible labour preceded the inception of Stork Mobile (originally called Mobile 2000). The studies were carried out by a steering committee representing the board of directors of Stork Group, the central works council and the trade unions. Creative cooperation between these partners was considered an essential precondition for the successful introduction of Stork Mobile. In addition, results from the pilot studies revealed a substantial existing interest in flexible labour, which led to high expectations regarding Stork Mobile's results.

However, an evaluation study conducted one year after Stork Mobile's pilot debut in the Amsterdam/Utrecht region, which has 3,200 Stork employees, has demonstrated a substantial deviation from the forecast outcomes. Predictions for use of Stork Mobile's services were twice as high as the actual figures achieved. The main causes are thought to include a qualitative mismatch of flexible labour demands and offers, the meagre financial incentives offered to employees for accepting flexible labour, the unfavourable reputation of flexible work and the lack of a need for employee flexibility, given the current labour shortage in the Netherlands.

Despite disappointing results, the board of directors of the Stork Group decided in March 1999 to extend Stork Mobile's operations to the Rijnmond/West Brabant region, which has 3,800 employees. This move to expand, accompanied by more modestly defined targets, indicates that the Stork Group remains confident that a mobility centre within the concern will prove its worth in the long run.