NS wants to be seen as an attractive employer where everyone can feel at home. To that end, we will have to ensure that our employees and managers, overall, reflect the diversity that we see in society at large. That is why NS sets great store by diversity and inclusiveness in its organisation. We encourage the recruitment and retention of women, employees from migrant communities and people with occupational disabilities. We expect our suppliers to do the same.
Women at the top
At year-end 2019, women comprised 35% of the senior management at NS (2018: 35%). It is our ambition to achieve a higher percentage. At the end of 2019, 50% of the members of the Supervisory Board were female and the Executive Board had two female members (40%).
People with occupational disabilities
In 2019, a total of 103 people had a ‘social responsibility’ job, created at NS for people with occupational disabilities (2018: 82). Most of the successful candidates for these 'social responsibility' jobs were people with a vocational or higher professional education diploma. At the end of 2019, 36 job vacancies had not yet been filled. We aim to have 200 ‘social responsibility’ jobs by 2020 in all business units.
Last year, we also dedicated a great deal of effort to the obligation for suppliers to assign NS work to people who are at a disadvantage in the labour market or who have occupational disabilities. In this way, we want to engage our suppliers in our efforts to achieve social objectives for people with little opportunity on the labour market. We are imposing this obligation in a number of ongoing contractual agreements and in invitations to tender. We did so in 2019, for example, in contracts awarded for postal services and train cleaning.
Employees from migrant communities
NS wants to have more staff from migrant communities in managerial positions and in the higher salary scales. In 2019, we devoted special attention to attracting and promoting members of this target group by influencing the choices made by managers in the selection process and by targeting this specific group. We are also working with a diverse recruitment team. In addition, in an internal programme for employees and managers we specifically focused on cultural differences and the need for a more inclusive work environment. NS is also taking part in a special project of the Ministry of Social Affairs and Employment that aims to promote the further integration of people from migrant communities in the labour market.
Asylum permit holders constitute a special group of employees. We are encouraging their intake for regular job vacancies and traineeships through intensive cooperation with the UAF (foundation for highly educated refugees), municipalities and other organisations. NS offered a position to six highly educated asylum permit holders in 2019, for example to take part in a work-study programme to help them gain practical experience in their own discipline. NS regularly shares lessons learned and experiences with other employers, organisations and municipalities.