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 encourage the recruitment and retention of women, employees from migrant communities and people with occupational disabilities. We expect our suppliers to do the same.

Women at the top

At year-end 2017, women comprised 32% of the senior management at NS (2016: 30%). As in 2016, 33% of the members of the Supervisory Board were female and the Executive Board had two female members (40%).

People with occupational disabilities

In the past year, 50 people with occupational disabilities started work in the retail companies as hospitality or retail assistants. In 2017, 71 people had a ‘social responsibility’ job (2016: 45). Some employees with an occupational disability transferred from a ‘social responsibility’ job to a regular job within our organisation. We aim to have created 200 ‘social responsibility’ jobs by 2020 in all business units.
Last year, we also dedicated a great deal of effort to the obligation for suppliers to use people for NS work who are at a disadvantage in the normal labour market or with occupational disabilities. We are imposing this obligation in ongoing contractual agreements and invitations to tender.

Employees from migrant communities

NS wants to have more staff from migrant communities in managerial positions and in the higher salary scales. We do this by influencing and increasing the choice of managers in the selection process and by doing more to focus on specific groups in our recruitment.
Former refugees constitute a special group of employees. We are encouraging their intake for regular job vacancies and traineeships through intensive cooperation with the UAF (foundation for highly educated refugees), municipalities and other organisations. The 20th participant started in the summer of 2017. The traineeship programme is a success: 90% of the participants have found a graduate-level job within NS or elsewhere after nine months. NS regularly shares what it has learned and its experiences with other employers, organisations and municipalities. That has inspired other employers in the Netherlands to start their own traineeships for this group.