Need to find staff quickly? Go for Open Hiring

Open Hiring is an approach to hiring staff in which you do not recruit or select applicants first. As a result, applicants with a disability or in a vulnerable position also have a chance of getting a job. This way you contribute to corporate social responsibility.

How Open Hiring works

According to UWV research ( Employee Insurance Agency, UWV, in Dutch) Open Hiring is especially suitable for industries in which degrees are less relevant, such as the hospitality, transport, and logistics fields.

How does it work?

• Write a job vacancy that outlines the responsibilities and requirements for the position.
• Open a waiting list and allow everyone who thinks they may be suitable to sign up.
• The first person on the list can start working for you right away.
• Create a good onboarding programme.
• Make clear agreements and regularly check in with the worker to ensure everything is going smoothly. Evaluate your new worker’s results and attitude to assess whether the position is right for them.

Pros and cons

Open Hiring has advantages and disadvantages. Consider them carefully before you take the leap.

Pros

• Open Hiring is a quick solution to your staffing shortage.
• It is faster and cheaper than traditional recruitment procedures.
• It improves inclusion in the workplace thereby contributing to corporate social responsibility.
• You can get funding from the government.

Cons

• You have to follow the order of the waiting list and cannot interview the people who signed up.
• With Open Hiring, you can never be sure whether the worker you are hiring is right for the job.
• If they end up being a poor match, you cannot simply let them go after their trial period. As with all other workers, you will have to pay a transition allowance if you dismiss a worker or do not extend their contract.
• Onboarding and supervising new workers who have little to no relevant work experience costs more time and money.

Government funding

Employers who hire older workers or workers with an occupational disability may qualify for Labour Costs Compensation (Loonkostenvoordeel, LKV) from their local municipality or UWV. This applies to:

• Older workers (56 years and older)
• Newly hired workers with an occupational disability
• Workers from the target group of the ‘jobs agreement’ (banenafspraak, in Dutch)
• People with educational difficulties (in Dutch). These are people who had difficulty getting an education, for example due to illness.
• Reassigned workers with an occupational disability.

The Social Innovation Fund (SIF) supports employers when they make investments in hiring groups of people with a distance to the labour market.

Guidance from a job coach

Do you employ an employee with a long-term illness, disability or other functional limitation? If so, your employee may receive guidance from a job coach (in Dutch). There are internal or external job coaches.

Examples of Open Hiring

Rob Jansen, director of logistics service provider Chain Logistics is a fan of Open Hiring (in Dutch). “We are hiring more vulnerable workers than before. They are often incredibly motivated, and motivation is one of our biggest requirements. I firmly believe that everyone judges people by their first impression, which is not always the right one. With Open Hiring, employees are given a month to prove themselves, to show their worth. It is the fairest system there is.”

Discover more testimonials (in Dutch) of employers who opted for Open Hiring.

Getting started with Open Hiring

Wondering if Open Hiring is right for you? For more information, there are various knowledgeable, experienced organisations you can contact. Reach out to the employer service point (in Dutch) of your regional UWV branch or to openhiring.nl.