Gov't approves €20m public transit jobs plan

The public transport companies and Minister Lodewijk Asscher has set aside 20 million euro to recruit enough drivers, conductors, mechanics and engineers in the coming years.

The current workforce in this sector is aging rapidly, while there is an insufficient number of trained new employees to  replace the staff that is retiring.

In the Sector Plan Public Transport, public transport companies and Minister Asscher made arrangements to tackle these problems. This includes money for extra learning-workplaces for young people and educating he unemployed. The sector will pay 12.5 million euro to the various programs, the Minister is contributing 7 million euro.

The average age of employees in the public transport sector is 51 years. In the next ten years, 30 percent of the staff on the bus, tram, metro and train will retire. At the same time it is increasingly difficult for companies to find enough qualified staff. These are mainly technical staff, but also includes drivers and conductors.

The plans for the public transport come from the social agreement of April 2013. In it the government and social partners made arrangements to combat unemployment. All sectors of the economy may submit plans and the government pays part of it. A total of 600 million euro has been reserved for this for 2014 and 2015.