Rotterdam's youth unmeployment expats and refugees

Rotterdam's youth
unemployment:
Expatriates and refugees
Issues, experiences
Nathaniel Jonathan Clarke
Summer
Rotterdam's youth
unemployment:
, experiences and perceptions
Summer
2016

2
Introduction.
Spiekman Stichting is a Rotterdam based non-profit foundation. It's goal is to become a
platform that finds social democratic solutions to Rotterdam's urban issues. The foundation
operates outside of the political sphere so as to freely think about the city's problems. It
maintains close contact with Rotterdam's citizens, conducting research on relevant topics to
contribute towards the social democratic ideology in the city. To achieve its goals, the
foundation carries out several annual activities such as: the provision of at least one study on
a theme approved by the board, organising a college tour with the participation of a high-
profile person and the organisation of the Spiekman Lecture on the 1st of May. This year's
annual report from Spiekman Stichting regards the issues that young expatriates and
refugees are having accessing Rotterdam's labour market. This study uses the
Wetenschappelijke raad voor het regeringsbeleid (WRR) definition for refugee as stated in
their policy brief "No time to lose: from reception to integration of asylum migrants."
Refugee: "non-Dutch national who has come to the Netherlands and of whom it has been
established on the basis of the Geneva Convention on Refugees of 1951 that he or she has a
valid fear of persecution in the country of origin because of religious or political persuasion,
nationality, race or membership of a particular social group."1
The definition of expatriate
used in this study is that of a person who lives outside of their native country.
Choice of theme.
During the month of March I met with various members of Rotterdam's social democratic
political party, known as Partij van de Arbeid (PvdA). We discussed some of Rotterdam's
current urban issues in order to help the foundation decide on a theme for this year's study.
Conversations with Marjolein Nieuwdorp, Duco Hoogland, Ronald Bethlehem and Co
Engberts, helped me understand that the subject of work in the city was a main concern for
them. They believed that Rotterdam is a city with many possibilities for innovation in the
labour market. I was explained that Rotterdam is a post-industrial city, with strong
gentrification, a low level of education and a high number immigrants where the city's youth
are lacking future prospects. Rotterdam is a young city with 106,000 people aged between 15
1
Wetenschappelijke raad voor het regeringsbeleid. WRR - Policy Brief 4. No time to lose: from reception to
integration of asylum migrants. Consulted on 23/06/2016 at http://www.wrr.nl/fileadmin/en/publicaties/PDF-
WRR-Policy_Briefs/WRR_Policy_Brief_WEB_-_No_time_to_lose_04.pdf

and 27 years old. From those
have no basic qualifications.2
Above: a population pyramid showing the population structure of Rotterdam by age a
year 2015.3
It became clear that youth unemployment was a suitable and necessary subject
was also a topic that I felt personally
midst of the economic crisis that had le
Evidently, Rotterdam's youth unemployment
government and unsurprisingly there were already
some further research in hopes of
2
Gemeente Rotterdam. Jongeren aan de slag 2015
http://www.rotterdam.nl/Clusters/Werk%20en%20inkomen/Document
2015/Rotterdams%20actieprogramma%20tegen%20jeugdwerkloosheid_LOWRES%20(2).pdf
3
Rotterdam in Cijfers. Consulted on 24/06/2016 at
https://rotterdam.buurtmonitor.nl/jive/report/?id=bevolking&openinputs=true
4
Scientific Electronic Library Online
http://www.scielo.cl/pdf/revcipol/v33n
young people, 7,500 (7.07%) are unemployed and 61% of them
Above: a population pyramid showing the population structure of Rotterdam by age a
It became clear that youth unemployment was a suitable and necessary subject
personally connected to, having lived several years in Spain in the
nomic crisis that had left 55.13% of people under 25 years old unemployed
Evidently, Rotterdam's youth unemployment is a matter that would
government and unsurprisingly there were already numerous studies on the subject.
some further research in hopes of finding a gap in the literature, I came across a report from
Jongeren aan de slag 2015-2018. Consulted on 24/06/2016 at
http://www.rotterdam.nl/Clusters/Werk%20en%20inkomen/Document-
fers. Consulted on 24/06/2016 at
Scientific Electronic Library Online - SciELO Chile. España: crisis y recortes. Consulted on 23/06/2016 at
http://www.scielo.cl/pdf/revcipol/v33n1/art08.pdf
3
young people, 7,500 (7.07%) are unemployed and 61% of them
Above: a population pyramid showing the population structure of Rotterdam by age and sex in the
It became clear that youth unemployment was a suitable and necessary subject to focus on. It
, having lived several years in Spain in the
ft 55.13% of people under 25 years old unemployed.4
concern the local
numerous studies on the subject. Doing
came across a report from
. Consulted on 23/06/2016 at

4
the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) mentioning that in
Rotterdam "non-native household have 3.500 euro per year less to spend than native
households."5
I realised then, that the literature I had been looking at did not specify whether
the statistics for youth unemployment included other groups that were not only Dutch
nationals. With the tragic refugee crisis caused by the war in Syria that has precipitated an
influx of over 500,000 refugees across the Europe,6
I decided to look into any studies done
about the situation of refugees in the Netherlands and their job prospects once they were
granted their status and were allowed to work in the country. In the WRR's policy brief "No
time to lose: from reception to integration of asylum migrants" I found three interesting facts:
 "Slightly more than 43,000 people requested asylum in the Netherlands in 2015."
 "Just one in three permit holders between the ages of 15 and 64 living in the
Netherlands have a paid job and many are permanently dependent in social assistance
benefits."
 "The labour participation rate among asylum migrants increases the longer they live
in the Netherlands."
As the report states, this "represents a waste of human capital and places an unnecessary
strain on the country's welfare system."7
The policy brief did a great job in its analysis and
suggestion of simultaneously focusing on housing, language acquisition, training and work in
order to minimise the amount of valuable time lost in integrating asylum migrants. However,
it did not included the voices, opinions or experiences of the target group they were studying.
This report aims to fill that gap by taking a more personal approach on the subject by giving
the refugee and migrant population a voice, a chance, to tell their story of their experience
with Rotterdam's labour market.
There were various reasons for choosing expatriates as a group to compare with refugees.
First of all, 49.3% of Rotterdam's population is foreign (including first and second generation
5
City of Rotterdam Regional Steering Committee (2009), “The City of Rotterdam, The Netherlands: Self-
Evaluation Report”, OECD Reviews of Higher Education in Regional and City Development, IMHE,
http://www.oecd.org/edu/imhe/regionaldevelopment. Consulted on 23/06/2016 at
http://www.oecd.org/edu/skills-beyond-school/44148367.pdf
6
Oxford-Yale Refugee Education Initiative. Consulted on 24/06/2016 at http://www.oxyrei.org/#home
7
Wetenschappelijke raad voor het regeringsbeleid. WRR - Policy Brief 4. No time to lose: from reception to
integration of asylum migrants. Consulted on 23/06/2016 at http://www.wrr.nl/fileadmin/en/publicaties/PDF-
WRR-Policy_Briefs/WRR_Policy_Brief_WEB_-_No_time_to_lose_04.pdf

5
immigrants).8
They are experienced with moving to other countries in search of new
opportunities, adapting to other cultures and learning new languages. Even though expatriates
moved to the Netherlands out of choice rather than forced to flee from a conflict in their
home country like the refugees, they are still an interesting group to compare with. A
comparison that might allow for a situation where they can learn from each other's issues,
experiences and perceptions.
Methodology and obstacles encountered.
Keeping true to the foundation's ideals of maintaining a close relationship with the city's
citizens, the chosen methodology was to carry out field research by interviewing seven young
expatriates and five young refugees. The reason for the discrepancy between the number of
participants in each group was due to the difficulties of finding refugees that met the
requirements of the target group. The participants had to be living in Rotterdam, they had to
speak English, be permitted to work and had to be aged between 20 and 30 years old. In an
attempt to gather as much information as possible, given the study's very specific and narrow
target group, men and women ratios were not a priority. The same applied to whether the
participants were employed or not as well as their country of origin.
The seven expatriates were found through the advertisement of the research project on
various expatriate orientated social media groups and through the help of other expatriates
and their friends. Finding refugees that fit the target group proved to be a very difficult
process. During the months of April and May, I contacted numerous organisations and
experts that dealt with refugees in the Netherlands in the hopes of them letting me contact and
interview a small group of the refugees they knew. However, I only received negative
answers, no answers at all or I was redirected to other organisations or people that in the end
could not help me either. For example, the Centraal Orgaan opvang Asielzoekers (COA) told
me that due to privacy issues it was not possible to interview asylum seekers on their
reception locations. Others, such as Stichting De Verre Bergen, were already researching a
group of refugees with the Erasmus University of Rotterdam and wanted to avoid multiple
parties interviewing and researching the same group. Many of the responses I received
suggested I should try Vluchtelingen Werk (VWN), the Dutch Council for Refugees.
8
Centraal Bureau voor de Statistiek. Consulted on 23/06/2016 at
http://statline.cbs.nl/Statweb/publication/?DM=SLNL&PA=37713&D1=0-8&D2=0&D3=1-2,6-
55&D4=603&D5=l&HDR=T,G4&STB=G1,G3,G2&CHARTTYPE=1&VW=T

6
Nonetheless, I did not receive an answer about my proposal for months and by the time I did,
it was too late to make arrangements.
Occasionally I did manage to find some refugees that fit my target group but I could not
interview them because unfortunately they did not speak English and I do not speak Dutch or
Arabic. Nevertheless, thanks to the messages sent though social media about this project, I
managed to find Restart Network.9
A non-profit initiative aimed at educating recent migrants
and refugees to learn the relevant technological skills to create a better future for themselves
and others in their new host country. They had accepted 20 refugees into their 8 week
program of teaching them coding, to equip them with digital skills needed to seize the vast
opportunities in the tech industry.10
Their project and students were the perfect fit of our
target group. It was through this initiative that I found five young Syrian refugees to
interview for this project. The interviews took place in different settings: over the phone, on
Skype or in person depending on the availability and flexibility of the interviewees to
participate. They were all conducted in English, which was also a reason for the limited
number of participants.
Questionnaire.
The following is a list of questions asked during the interviews:
 Full Name:
 Date of Birth:
 Country of origin:
 Education:
 Profession:
 Current job:
 Languages:
 Diplomas and/or licences such as driving license or diplomas for extra courses taken:
 When and why did you come to the Netherlands?
 Why did you chose to live in Rotterdam?
 Before moving to Rotterdam what were you doing?
9
Restart Network. Consulted on 21/07/2016 at http://restart.network/
10
Restart Network. Consulted on 21/07/2016 at restart.network/images/Restart_Network.pdf

7
 How long have you been in the Netherlands in total?
 How long have you been in Rotterdam?
 Do you speak Dutch?
 Have you or are you taking Dutch lessons? If not, will you take them in the future?
 Do you have regular contact with Dutch people?
 How integrated do you feel you are into Dutch society? On a scale of 0 to 10?
 How hard was it to find a job in the Netherlands/Rotterdam? How long did it take
you?
 Did you come to the Netherlands with a job offer or did you come to Rotterdam first
and then searched?
 Have you had to deal with the local government/city council? If so, what with?
 Are you receiving any help from the Dutch government?
 What sort of issues have you faced while living in Rotterdam? Any issues relating to
accessing the labour market?
 What are your future plans? Do you plan to stay in Rotterdam for the next 5 years?
 Given your experience so far, what do you think the government or local city council
of Rotterdam should do to help more young people enter the labour market? Any
suggestions for the young people struggling to find a job in Rotterdam?
 What do you think is an essential skill for finding a job in Rotterdam?
 Where have you seen more job opportunities in Rotterdam? What sort of jobs are
being advertised the most? What are businesses looking for in Rotterdam?
Results - Expatriates.
In the group of the expatriates interviewed are:
 Finbar James Brown, 25 years old, from the United Kingdom.
 Ivanna Nikol Posobchuk, 25 years old, from Ukraine.
 Mariam Gardshol, 27 years old, from Sweden.
 Ray Joonatan Pohjanheimo, 26 years old, from Finland.
 Ronny Reshef, 29 years old, from Israel.
 Yana Ballod, 24 years old, from Ukraine.
 Zoia Mazur, 29 years old, from Russia.

8
Between them, they speak 12 languages but three of them do not speak any Dutch while the
rest speak between an A1 and B2 level. Their education level is, at least that of a Bachelor
level, while five out of seven have completed at least one Master degree. Their professions
range from a librarian, cultural sector worker in visual arts, a dentist, psychologist, two
lawyers and a sales manager. However, only two of them are currently working in their area
of expertise (the dentist and the sales manager). The rest are either studying and looking for a
part time job or are working in jobs below their skill level. These include jobs such as
technical support, unpaid volunteering, low paid internships or working at recruitment
agencies. Four of the expatriates interviewed work or study in Rotterdam while the three
others work in other areas of the Netherlands such as Maastricht, Den Haag or Utrecht.
They have lived in the Netherlands between six months and four years and in Rotterdam
between 4 months and 4 years. When asked about their issues finding a job the biggest
problem was not speaking a good enough level of Dutch. The other answers ranged from
being overqualified for simple jobs or not having a nationality from a member state of the
European Union, while two of the expatriates came to Rotterdam with a job offer. Four of
them received help from the Dutch government to pay their health insurance, while the rest
received no help at all. Regarding their future plans, one expatriate wanted to stay and
become a teacher, two wanted to stay and enrol in further studies, one was not sure as her
situation depended on her visa and job prospects while two wanted leave Rotterdam in a
couple of years time.
Their suggestions on what the city of Rotterdam could do to help young expats find jobs
varied but their biggest concerns were the lack of affordable language courses to learn Dutch
and a lack of job fairs helping expats understand the intricacies of the Dutch labour market
where they could have the opportunity to network. An interesting mention was that of the
possible creation of a website with job offers specific for international students to help them
finance themselves while studying. As for an essential skill for finding a job in Rotterdam,
the majority agreed that speaking a good level of Dutch was necessary. In their opinion,
Rotterdam job offers currently revolve around restaurant and hotel work, engineering
opportunities, working in customer service, information and technology (IT) jobs and
especially business related offers such as that of people with a background in accounting or
finance.

9
Results - Refugees.
In the group of refugees interviewed are:
 Modai Al Khayyat, 20 years old, from Syria.
 Mohamed Shuker Barbour, 23 years old, from Syria.
 Nebras Salheb, 30 years old, from Syria.
 Omar Al Kasem, 23 years old, from Syria.
 Rasha Alshaar, 26 years old, from Syria.
All the refugees interviewed originated from Syria. Their education level was between that of
a high school graduate and a Bachelor graduate. This is a lower level than that of the
expatriates interviewed mainly because of their younger age and because they had to stop
their studies or were unable to graduate due to the war, flee their country and restart their
studies all over again in the Netherlands. They all spoke fluent Arabic and English in addition
to being enrolled with the Dienst Uitvoering Onderwijs (DUO) to learn Dutch. Their Dutch
course is fully subsidised by the Dutch government, as long as they do not fail. As for their
choice of profession despite being more difficult to answer given their age, one refugee
wanted to work in anything IT related, one was an architect, another wanted to become the
manager of a bank or business, one was a musician (she played the violin to a high level and
also sang) while the fifth refugee was a photographer. None of them were working at the time
the interviews took place. Instead, they were all studying Dutch, learning to code thanks to
the initiative Restart Network, and applying for further education.
This group of refugees had been living in the Netherlands between 10 months and two and a
half years. Specifically in Rotterdam one refugee had only been living in the city for one
month while the refugee that had been staying the longest had been doing so for one year and
nine months. When asked about the problems they were having finding a job, two answered
that they had not tried to look because they were still learning Dutch and with their current
level it was insufficient to work. The other three had been rejected because of their level of
Dutch and due to background issues. By this I mean that employers were not familiar with
their past experience or education, effectively rendering their CV void. An interesting
comment by one of the refugees mentioned the fear and insecurity of finding a job since he
would stop receiving social benefits if he did. He believed that if a refugee were to find a job
it would only be for a short time and probably pay less than 1,500 euro per month, making it

10
insufficient to live on and invest in bettering himself through further education. Instead, he
felt it was currently better and more stable for him to keep receiving the social benefits until
his situation in relation to the labour market improved. All five refugees were receiving
unconditional government financial assistance. Moreover, regarding their future plans, four
of them wanted to remain in Rotterdam to study and work while the fifth refugee wanted to
move to another area of the Netherlands were he could maintain his social benefits as well as
being able to pursue a Master degree in architecture. This was because Rotterdam's city
council did not allow him to receive the benefits and finance his Master degree at the same
time. despite the fact that the course he wanted to follow had an incredibly high rate of
employability for its graduates.
The suggestions they made concerning possible solutions to help their employability and
integration relied on more governmental support. The government, they thought, should find
small but good jobs or internships for refugees to allow them enough time to follow their
Dutch courses but at the same time giving them some valuable work experience as well as a
chance to practice their Dutch and interact with Dutch citizens. At the moment, they
complained, that the work experience they were being offered was useless as they were only
being asked to sweep streets or prepare food for older people. This claim was followed up by
complaints that the only organisation that really cared for them and helped them was the
VWN as well the fact that they felt their languages, experience and education should be
accepted even if it is unfamiliar to Dutch employers. Their answers to what essential skills a
refugee must have to find a job were similar to those of the expatriates answers. One must
have a good level and knowledge of the Dutch language, as well as some networking and
technical skills (such as electrician or plumbing skills). The job opportunities they saw most
advertised in Rotterdam had to do with IT work, port related jobs and night life work in bars
or restaurants.
Conclusions, lessons learned and possible solutions.
In order to further this research and not leave the issue discussed unresolved, one must search
and think of possible solutions and ways to help. From the responses of those interviewed,
some lessons can be learned. As regards the situation of expatriates, there seems to be a
problem caused by a vicious circle. They cannot get a job in Rotterdam because they do not
speak Dutch but cannot afford to pay for a Dutch language course because of their prices and

11
the fact that they do not have a job to pay for it. Therefore, a possible solution would be for
either a business to offer cheap and affordable Dutch language lessons or for the local
government of Rotterdam to implement an integration program of free or cheap Dutch
lessons to foreign job seekers living in the city. The group of expatriates also seemed to have
concerns relating to being 'lost' in the Dutch labour market. They ask for more job fairs that
are not run privately or by a university but by the city itself. In which guidance and a network
of businesses would be provided to help young expatriates find a place in Rotterdam's labour
market.
The situation of the group of young refugees is slightly different given their dependence on
government aid. They are a group of young people that want to establish themselves in
Rotterdam (or at least the Netherlands) for the foreseeable future to study, work and better
themselves. They are in the Dutch educational system, learning the language and in a future
their issues with background checks will be no more as employers will begin to recognise
their studies and experience. The problem lies with their current situation, where they feel
that the VWN is the only organisations that cares for them while the institutions give them
useless work experience. This is a chance for the local government, to train future workers
and tax payers at no extra cost by simultaneously giving them relevant and valuable work
experience. Allowing them to study the language, integrate and work at the same time by
providing them with internships or small jobs relating to their profiles. One other possible
opportunity is that of mixing expatriates with refugees by giving each group what the other
group lacks. The expatriates want and need to learn Dutch but cannot do so because of the
vicious circle mentioned earlier. The refugees are enrolled in a Dutch course but are looking
for relevant and valid work experience. A program could be set up to pair expatriates and
refugees together. The expatriates could learn Dutch from the refugees while the refugees
could work with the expatriates as part of an internship program gaining the work experience
they desire while fomenting the integration of both groups.
By looking at other foundations in cities comparable to Rotterdam, their objectives and the
way they act to achieve them, it is possible to find a method and way of working that might
be helpful to learn from. In this case in particular, one should also be interested in knowing
whether there is a possibility to apply their methodology in Rotterdam.

12
Eindhoven is a good city to compare Rotterdam with. Despite it being three times smaller in
population than Rotterdam, it is also a city with a high percentage of immigrants. Eindhoven
has a population of 223,220 (as of the 1st
of January 2015),11
while Rotterdam has a
population of 623,956 (as of the 1st
of January 2015).12
As mentioned before, 49.3% of
Rotterdam's population is foreign, while Eindhoven's foreign population is 31.8%.13
It is also
a young city like Rotterdam, with the majority of its population ranging between the ages of
20 and 29 years old.
Above: a population pyramid showing the population structure of Eindhoven by age and sex in the
year 2015.14
Based in Eindhoven, Stichting Ik Wil,15
is an exciting foundation with a intriguing
methodology worthy of analysing and taking into consideration the possibility of applying it
11
Eindhoven in Cijfers. Consulted on 01/08/2016 at
http://eindhoven.buurtmonitor.nl/report/fact_2_2_eindhovenaren_naar_herkomst.pdf
12
Rotterdam in Cijfers. Consulted on 01/08/2016 at
13
http://eindhoven.buurtmonitor.nl/report/fact_2_2_eindhovenaren_naar_herkomst.pdf
14
http://eindhoven.buurtmonitor.nl/report/fact_2_01_Bevolking_2016.pdf

13
to our case study in Rotterdam. It is a neighbourhood lead non-profit foundation that caters to
the needs of the people from their area. Their initiative was created by people that lived in
their neighbourhood and therefore, from the start, it already possessed a large social network
through which they learnt what needs were not being correctly addressed. This is the
fundamental basis of the foundation, it works by talking to the people that are in need of help
to identify their problems, talents and opportunities to facilitate them instead of thinking and
acting from one's own idea of what is needed.
One of the best features of this structure and method is the way it tackles issues that might not
be dealt with properly or even identified in the first place. The people that come to them for
help sometimes do not go to social workers or government institutions because they do not
like talking to strangers about their problems, they lack trust in them and have no relationship
with them. However, at Ik Wil they gained their trust little by little, got to know them
personally and managed to help them as best they could since they ended up talking to and
being helped by their close and trustworthy neighbourhood friends. They consider this the
backbone of the foundation, their trust and support people. Ik Wil has currently close to 40
people that qualify as such, they are the people from the neighbourhood that know exactly
what is happening in their area and know the problems that need solving. They arrange work
groups with other people in the neighbourhood that want to support other people with the
same problem. Over time they managed to develop this bottom-up community lead system
based on trust where people are given guidance, coaching and workshops are arranged to give
people the tools necessary for their empowerment. The idea behind this is not only for
personal empowerment but also a way of empowering people as a group, to achieve things
together, solving problems together. At Ik Wil, they like and want to invest in the knowledge
of people, empowering them so they can achieve what they want and reduce any possible
limitations that might be affecting them.
Another feature of this foundation is that they do not ask financial compensation for their
services to those they help, instead they ask them to return the favour by providing a service
at the foundation, a kind of social return. Furthermore, every activity is managed by someone
in the neighbourhood, meaning they are responsible for making it happen. There is also a
system in place that shows the degree of participation of a person in the foundation. For
example a person that comes for the first time is a visitor but can make his or her way up to
15
Stichting Ik Wil. Consulted on 26/07/2016 at http://www.stichtingikwil.nl/

14
be a participant or a trust person. The good volunteers that want to develop some professional
skills are taught to write a proposal for their own project and how to write a petition asking
for a subsidy for it. Of course, Ik Wil does not have all the answers, knowledge or capability
to deal with every single problem of its neighbourhood in Eindhoven. However, it does have
an incredible network built around the people, companies and government of the
neighbourhood. So when a case arrives that they cannot deal with by themselves, at least they
know the correct people and organisations capable of helping. The companies that are
involved with them, large and small, also provide a useful service as they are willing to offer
kids periods of work experience for six months with a possibility of obtaining a job
afterwards. It is worth noting that the unemployed youth that come to the foundation know
they will not be pushed into jobs they do not want or do not feel comfortable with. They
know the foundation is not making money from them but only wants to support and facilitate
their dreams.
Ik Wil has also had in mind since it started that they wanted to be self sufficient instead of
aiming to obtain the largest amount of subsidies possible. Although this was not realistic for
the first few years, they have managed to start a process by which many of those involved
with their foundation, that perhaps do not have a high level of education but still want to help,
can start their own company. For example a tailor or a barber shop, small businesses that are
missing from the neighbourhood. The foundation helps them by giving the administration,
sales and public relations support in exchange for a small return once they are profitable.
It is also possible to look at successful initiatives from the city Rotterdam itself that are more
clearly linked to the issue at hand, this is the case of the aforementioned Restart Network.
Speaking with Teodor Cataniciu, one of the founders, he explained that he started the
initiative because of his belief that even the poorest members of society should still have
access to the same level of education as the rest. He then asked himself what skills can be
taught to someone in ten weeks or less that would allow that person to have a fulfilling life,
career and would help them integrate. The answer was in Information and Technology (IT).
He knew first hand that there was a shortage of people with IT skills and knew of proven
examples were people had changed careers completely to IT in a short amount of time
(around three to four months). Knowing that this challenge was possible, he contacted
various refugees through social media that were educated and capable. He hoped that the
skills they would learn would help them empower themselves, empower others and make the

15
lives of other refugees better. Interestingly, Teodor's motivation for starting this initiative was
purely out of a feeling that it had to be done. He was aware of the current refugee problem
and took action to help.
In order to finance the project, which needed 20 laptops and the organisation of workshops,
they started an online crowd funding campaign that managed to raise the five thousand euro
that they needed. Out of the 20 students attending their coding course, half want to access
higher education while the other half wants to find a job. Restart Network is currently looking
to find companies that are willing to hire their students. The business model they have set up
at the moment is that interested companies will hire their students as interns and after three
months decide whether to hire them. If they do, they would make a donation to the
foundation so that they can continue to educate others. Teodor hopes that by graduation day
his students will have the internships they desire. It is also worth noting that they have
managed to arrange ten partnerships with companies and NGOs, including Rotterdam
Partners, CiC Rotterdam, and industry leading technological companies. All in the hope to
realise their dream, as stated on their website, "to make world-class tech education a reality
for everyone."16
Relating these approaches to our issue of youth unemployment for expatriates and refugees,
they both seem very helpful and could well provide part of the solution to the problem. Ik
Wil's model is ideal in the sense that it works through a bottom-up approach, working from
the needs of the people. The expatriates would be guided and helped to get any information
they need (in particular about the Dutch labour market) to help them adjust to their new life
in the Netherlands. They would very likely be able to learn Dutch for free as long as they
repaid the foundation with their skills and time. The young and unemployed would be helped
to get the work experience they want, or at the very least, not be pushed into a job they don't
want were they will not gain relevant work experience, such as washing dishes or cleaning
the streets for example. Given the foundation's business model for self sufficiency, it would
also provide those involved the opportunity to start their own business. Since the groups
being discussed are refugees and expatriates, their job opportunities are usually found with
international companies and organisations that welcome and understand their background and
might not require knowledge of the Dutch language to be hired. These positions might not be
as easily available and thus, in such cases where jobs with international companies are in
16
Restart Network. Consulted on 28/07/2016 at http://restart.network/images/Restart_Network.pdf

16
shortage, this would help those having trouble to find a job hire themselves in a way.
However, Ik Wil does not have an easy model to replicate. One would need a very
cooperative neighbourhood, some extremely dedicated people and time to build trust amongst
the neighbourhood people as well as and a strong network between the foundation, the
neighbourhood, companies and the local government. It is a very slow, long but rewarding
process that would help a neighbourhood in many more areas than just youth employment.
On the other hand, Restart Network's model is easier to set up but would serve the refugees
better rather than the expatriates. From the expatriates interviewed, their education and skill
level is already very high so this set up would not be helpful to them. What they need is to
learn Dutch and adjust to the intricacies of the Dutch labour market. Refugees in contrast,
would benefit the most since their previous education and experience are not recognised as
easily in the Netherlands. Following this type of programme would give them relevant skills
that would be acknowledged by Dutch employers. By identifying a shortage of skills that are
in demand for a specific part of the labour market, one could set up a similar initiative to that
of Restart Network. Nevertheless, this would still have at least two issue. The skills trained
would change in accordance to the needs of the labour market or the foundation would risk
becoming obsolete. Their business model for self sufficiency is also dependent on their
success in getting its students hired. The funding of the course would be problematic
depending on what was being taught and could not always depend on a successful online
crowd funding campaign.
I would therefore suggest further support for the work that Restart Network is doing. Keeping
their dream alive and such a great initiative going is an important step towards helping the
refugees of Rotterdam learn skills that will help them find employment as well as receiving
relevant work experience once they graduate through the possibility of doing an internship.
However, I would also like to encourage the start of a similar foundation to Ik Wil in
Rotterdam. Despite the difficulties of achieving their same level of success and the
establishment of such solid communitarian ties, if it is done correctly it could turn out to be
an incredibly useful tool for the solving of issues that expatriates and refugees might have. It
would help other organisations like the WVN and Rotterdam's Expatdesk17
reach more
people and might even reduce their workload. It would be able to provide the very much
17
Services & Contact Expatdesk. Consulted on 01/08/2016 at https://en.rotterdam.info/rotterdam-info-
expatdesk/services-contact-expatdesk/

17
needed affordable Dutch lessons for expatriates, help with the integration of refugees and
help them find the work experience and jobs they desire.
To conclude, it is important to understand the limitations of this report's research. The sample
size interviewed is too small to draw strong conclusions on Rotterdam's labour market for
young expatriates and refugees. Nevertheless, it is amazing what can be learnt through the
conversations had with people from the aforementioned groups. One has a better
understanding of their situation and experiences, in addition to the issues the local
government and businesses are failing to address. This is a chance to act on and shine the
light on the issues surrounding Rotterdam's labour market for these groups. Giving a voice to
two groups of young people full of potential that would benefit Rotterdam tremendously if
the city were to react and make use of what currently is a waste of human capital that cannot
be afforded.

Rotterdam's youth unmeployment expats and refugees

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