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Economic recovery: Focusing on growth, instead of just on survival

ECONOMIC RECOVERY: FOCUSING ON GROWTH, INSTEAD OF JUST ON SURVIVAL

It seems as though all lights are green right now; the economic recovery seems to be continuing for real, which is reflected in the number of projects on offer in the construction, industry, utility, shipbuilding, infrastructure, and petrochemical sectors. There is plenty of demand for properly trained technical staff to tackle the many jobs on offer. Signing on for projects without even being able to turn a decent profit on them is no longer an issue. The time when companies were practically obliged to sell their services under cost price, if only to keep their staff busy, is now thankfully a thing of the past.

BUT ARE YOU READY?

“We have seen a considerable rise in the demand for skilled technical staff,” says Marc van Ravenstein, founder and owner of InAxtion. “There are more available projects these days, which require staff, and sometimes specialised staff at that. I cannot stress enough how important it is for our clients to manage their business properly; they have to be aware that taking on projects that are not economically viable will have a negative effect on capacity, which will in turn have a negative effect on the remaining available capacity for tackling the worthwhile projects that are increasingly being initiated. As such, it is about planning properly, deploying the right people for the right job, and finding available staff well in advance. After all, properly skilled, motivated technical staff are still scarce, which they have always been, really. That’s why we at InAxtion take such good care of our staff. In fact, some of them stay with us until they reach retirement age.”

CONTINUITY IS THE MAGIC WORD

“I believe that going along with temporary crazes in the market, such as taking the opportunity to ask exorbitant fees for our staff right now, ultimately does not pay off in the long term. Not for the client, not for the staff member, and ultimately, not for us either. We prefer to simply enjoy the current improved situation that only seems to be improving more and more. Reaching the maximum level of achievement together, that’s what really gets me going,” says van Ravenstein.

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