During the 48th celebration of the Dies Natalis at Maastricht University, Robert Dur, Professor of Economics of Incentives at Erasmus School of Economics, was given the opportunity to deliver a speech. Here he provided three possible solutions to tackle the tight labour market.
Professor Robert Dur indicated in a keynote during the 48th Dies Natalis of Maastricht University that the Netherlands can expect problems in the coming years in the areas of peace, climate, security and infringement of democracy. The biggest discussed problem of the speech was about the labour market, which will become increasingly tight in the coming years due to the continued aging of the population. This can endanger our standard of living. Dur gave three potential solutions in his speech to tackle this problem.
First of all, the work must become more useful. Research has shown that people who find their work useful are also willing to work more for it. This means that they will perform more during their working hours, but also that they are willing to work longer.
In addition, discrimination in the recruitment of new staff must be combated. Many workplaces offer courses and training to combat discrimination in the application process, but that hardly seems to work. In many places, excellent candidates are still rejected based on their origins.
Finally, students should be better guided in their study choice. The potential career prospects must also be taken into account. Based on this, choosing a study option becomes a more well-considered choice.
