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Students debate about how private and public can strengthen each other in the job market

Published: 11th April 2023 Last updated: 11th April 2023

On March 15, the education of Tilburg University's second-year Bachelor’s students in Bestuurskunde (Public Administration) looked a little different. Instead of a lecture for their course Markt, Overheid & Middenveld (Market, Government & Civil-society Organizations), a debate was organized in collaboration with the Academic Collaboration Center Inclusive Labor Market on shaping the employment agency of the future. While theory emphasizes the importance of collaboration, in practice, it is a lot more complicated. How can the Government, UWV (Employee Insurance Agency), market participants, employers, and unions work together in practice?

Debat arbeidsmarkt

In conversation with students

Representatives from the Ministry of Social Affairs and Employment, UWV, Randstad, the trade union CNV, and employers' organization VNO-NCW Brabant Zeeland had traveled to Tilburg to engage with students. It is of great value to involve organizations, such as partners of the Academic Collaboration Center Inclusive Labor Market, in education. Ton Wilthagen, lecturer for the course and academic lead of the Collaborative Center:

For students, it is instructive and inspiring to enter into conversation with professionals and organizations that face complex issues in practice. That is a crucial form of education in addition to courses focused on theory and academic skills.”

Various themes

Several themes were discussed during the debate. These included the various transitions of labor that are at play and how they can be guided. It was discussed whether we should move from job security to employment security, and practical aspects and challenges of working together were also discussed. After all, can organizations work logo-free and set aside their own interests? What if you do not all use the same jargon? And how do you deal with issues like the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) when different parties are involved?

Reinventing work

Marjolein ten Hoonte, Director of Arbeidsmarkt en Societal Impact (Labor Market and Societal Impact) at Randstad and one of the panelists, reflected on her participation in the debate: "The factors that influence people's working lives are something we have come to recognize. We are in an in-between phase where we seem to take the old situation too much into account and hold on to it, industrial and provided for. What the world and the labor market are moving towards requires new solutions, new security. Reinventing well-regulated work. That includes a purposeful service for citizens. While the parties involved agree on the end goal, the road to it is paved with old thinking, putting one's own ego and interest first. And that is something the students flawlessly see through! They and their descendants are the ones who must be able to cope with what we come up with. Private-public cooperation in the to-be-formed ecosystem where no one is in charge seems to be the important next step. Today’s ‘polder’ (person endlessly discussing problem without making a decision) needs to step over his/her own shadow."

They are the ones who must be able to cope with what we come up with.

- Marjolein ten Hoonte, Director of Labor Market and Societal Impact

Reflection of students

There was a lot of interaction with the students and although it could have gone on longer, after 90 minutes it was time for debate leaders Marc van der Meer and Ton Wilthagen to bring it to a close. And what did the students think of it?

"It was very useful to hear experiences from different organizations. Everyone has their own vision and it was instructive to see this."

"It was a diverse panel from different relevant angles. You were able to really experience how people work together and what they think of this."

More information

Website: Academic Collaboration Center Inclusive Labor Market