The recent study ‘Shaping the future of work’ by technology federation Agoria, shows that by 2030 some 4.5 million employees will need to undergo further training in order to retain their jobs in the long term. Without measures, some 541,000 vacancies will remain unfilled by then. That is why Agoria created the ‘Be The Change’ charter, which is intended to provide companies with a handhold and prospects but also commitments for the coming years. Companies that subscribe to the charter and demonstrate that they can adapt their personnel policy to the challenges of tomorrow’s labor market are rewarded with the ‘Employer ready for the future of work’ label.

Bright future

VINCI Energies in Belgium made this commitment in 2020 and now receives the label. “The Agoria study shows that by 2030, not only many positions will disappear, but also new competencies will be needed to fill new positions,” says Marc Lemaire, Managing Director of VINCI Energies in Belgium. “This will also mean that many profiles will have to retrain or upskill themselves. For us, this is the core of our participation. With this label, we demonstrate that VINCI Energies has a plan and has taken actions to continue to offer our people a bright future through training, among other things and to be able to present new employees with a long-term vision.”

Raising awareness and diversity

In the ‘Be The Change’ charter, Agoria puts forward ten commitments of which the participating companies have to choose three in order to better align their HR policies with the labour market of the future. VINCI Energies, however, selected four of these and demonstrated over the past year that these commitments were effectively achieved.

“Two commitments are aimed at getting young people excited about technical professions and raising awareness about how they can contribute to the world of tomorrow together with us. Through company visits and internships, they discover the diversity of our activities and sectors. All too often, the idea prevails that technical professions are reserved for boys, but that’s not the case”, says Eddy Vandersmissen, HR Director at VINCI Energies in Belgium.

Training and development

The two other commitments focus on training and development. For VINCI Energies, it is not only important to attract qualified people, but also to develop and train its employees throughout their careers. “We do this by offering training programs and investing in continuing education. The latter also corresponds to one of our values: responsibility. Indeed, as an employer, we believe it is important to be co-responsible for the continued employability of our employees with whom we have made a commitment,” Eddy Vandersmissen said.

Responsibility

VINCI Energies extends this responsibility to its role as a major source of employment in the labor market. “We employ more than 2,700 people in Belgium and have more than 200 vacancies permanently. VINCI Energies is aware of its responsibility as an employer and wants to develop solutions by 2030 to guarantee the best possible employment in line with the needs of the evolving labor market. The commitments we have made in the context of the ‘Employer ready for the future of work’ label will continue to be of paramount importance in the future,” concludes Marc Lemaire.