The Province of Limburg is supporting three employer-led initiatives and continuing to build on ‘Werkgeverskracht Limburg’

The Province of Limburg is supporting three new employer initiatives that have emerged from the ‘Limburg’s Best Employer Idea’ programme. At the same time, the Province is investing €920,000 in ‘Werkgeverskracht Limburg’, a comprehensive approach in which employers work together to find solutions to the labour market shortage.

The three initiatives stem from the design sprints and the Employers’ Event organised by the Province in late 2025 in collaboration with partners. At the event, employers from across Limburg worked in short, intensive sessions on ideas to address current labour market issues such as staff shortages, sustainable employability and making better use of talent. During the closing event in Roermond, De Werkcirkel was voted Limburg’s Best Employer Idea. Three of the ideas presented will receive a total grant of over €285,000: Werkcirkel Buurt & Bedrijf, Aanwezigheids-challenge and Future You.

Through the Werkcirkel Buurt & Bedrijf, people on a work-based learning programme are given the opportunity to gain experience with several employers. This enables them to discover what kind of work suits them, whilst allowing companies to get to know new talent in an accessible way.

The Attendance Challenge helps employers to work together to improve job satisfaction, well-being and long-term employability. A number of pilot schemes are investigating which approach is most effective in preventing absenteeism and keeping staff healthy and engaged at work.

Future You is, after all, intended for employees facing redundancy or career-related issues. In this pilot scheme, participants are introduced, in an accessible way, to other roles, sectors and opportunities in the labour market.

Entrepreneurial Limburg

In addition to these three projects, the Province, together with the network organisation Ondernemend Limburg (a partnership between the Limburg Employers’ Association, MKB Limburg and the Limburg Agricultural and Horticultural Association), is taking the next step with the ‘Werkgeverskracht Limburg’ initiative. This initiative provides practical support, particularly to SME entrepreneurs, to jointly develop solutions to issues that many businesses recognise: how to keep staff employable for longer, how to increase labour productivity, and how to recruit and retain staff in a tight labour market?

Sharing experiences

This could, for example, involve employer groups sharing experiences on reducing absenteeism, organising work more effectively so that staff can work more productively and enjoy their work more, or jointly setting up new pathways into the labour market for people who are currently excluded. Entrepreneurs can also develop ideas into business cases and subsequently roll out successful pilot schemes more widely.

Continued in practice

Provincial Executive Member Elianne Demollin-Schneiders (Education & Labour Market): “What began with fresh ideas from Limburg employers is now really being put into practice. With this support, we are giving entrepreneurs the scope to develop solutions together that benefit employees, jobseekers and employers alike. In this way, we are building, step by step, a strong and future-proof Limburg labour market that can contribute to a vibrant economy. With this support, we are demonstrating that good ideas do not have to remain on the shelf, but can develop into concrete innovation in the workplace and across the region.”