NS wants to be seen as an attractive employer where everyone can feel at home. This can be done by making the workforce and management reflect the composition of society at large, therefore letting NS ensure it is a diverse and inclusive organisation. We made agreements about this in the collective labour agreement (CAO). We encourage the recruitment and retention of women, employees from migrant communities and people at a disadvantage in the normal labour market. We expect our suppliers to do the same.

Women at the top

At year-end 2016, women comprised 30% of the senior management at NS (2015: 25%). The percentages of female members of the Supervisory Board and Remuneration Committee were 40% and 33% (2015: 36% and 67% respectively). The Executive Board included two women (50%).

People with occupational disabilities

In the past year, about 75 people with occupational disabilities gained work experience at NS (40 in 2015). These were people covered by the Invalidity Insurance (Young Disabled Persons) Act or the Sheltered Employment Act, plus our own employees with occupational disabilities. In the CAO, we agreed to create 200 lasting jobs for this target group before 2018 in all the business units. NS has now acquired considerable experience in this area and regularly exchanges its experiences with other employers and ministries. We also collaborate closely with Locus Network and the Employee Insurance Administration Agency in selecting people from the target population for the available vacancies.

Employees from migrant communities

NS aims to increase the number of staff from migrant communities, particularly in management positions and the higher salary scales. To achieve this, we have been using positive discrimination in the selection process for managers since 2015. Furthermore, the employees in the Recruitment department reflect the composition of Dutch society, which helps make sure that we recruit staff in an inclusive way.

Former refugees

NS collaborates closely with the UAF foundation and is involved in the Refugee Talent Hub. Together with the UAF foundation, which helps more highly qualified refugees find appropriate positions within society, NS has set up a nine-month paid work experience programme in the form of a traineeship. In view of the large inflow of refugees, we created five extra work experience places in 2016 in addition to the five existing places. Of the group of ten who started in 2016, three ended up with an employment contract with NS. Two former refugees also joined NedTrain through the regular recruitment procedure and one started as an apprentice at TechniekFabriek. We are working intensively with various municipalities and the Employee Insurance Administration Agency to fill standard vacancies at NS from the refugee intake. NS has been sharing the know-how and experience it has acquired with other employers, the Ministry of Social Affairs and municipalities.