TPG TO TURN FOREIGNERS INTO POSTMEN

TPG TO TURN FOREIGNERS INTO POSTMEN
From HET FINANCIEELE DAGBLAD, February 13th, 2001
BY CHRISTINE LUCASSEN

AMSTERDAM – Holland’s biggest employer, Dutch post group TPG, is
launching a scheme for foreigners which combines a cultural assimilation
course with training to be a postman.

The full-time course combines training in the Dutch language,
communication and professional skills and a job at the end of it. It is set to
be closely monitored by other companies.

‘My phone is ringing constantly,’ said TNT Post Group spokeswoman Debbie
de Wagenaar. ‘A lot of people want to know how we plan to tackle this.’

Six groups of 15 people will soon start the full-time course, which is
due to last several months. All students will have a personal mentor.

Companies like TPG are being forced to develop new recruiting strategies
with unemployment in the Netherlands among the lowest in Europe.

‘Firms are now seriously looking at people they would have left on the
sidelines not so long ago,’ said Olly den Hartogh, a policy maker at training
institute ROC Zadkine.

However, she warned that the scheme should be watched carefully. ‘If the
course is followed by a job, plus a solid additional professional training
scheme and a career plan, I applaud it,’ she said. ‘But if it ends up using
people like folding chairs, putting them away when they are no longer needed,
then it is not right. We must be alert.’

Taskforce Inburgering, a government body set up last year to improve the
integration of foreigners into Dutch culture, welcomed the TPG plan.

‘Many foreigners drop out of the government’s compulsory assimilation
course when they get a job,’ a spokesman said. ‘This project is crucial
because it combines training with getting a job. It might serve as a model for
other firms.’

TPG is the biggest employer inthe Netherlands with 56,000 staff, and
about 20,000 postmen.

HET FINANCIEELE DAGBLAD, 13th February 2001