Digital transformation in the labor market: "It must be smarter, accessible and more transparent."

We recently welcomed Gert Diender, CEO of Jobliebe, to the Grexx Community Podcast to discuss his company’s ambitious goal of radically changing the labor market. Summed up perfectly in his LinkedIn tagline ‘Designing the Future of Work’, Gert and Jobliebe believe the labor market needs to be smarter, accessible, and more transparent. 

In the Grexx Community Podcast we talk to creators, innovators, and entrepreneurs who want to make the world just a little better with digital transformation. Read on for the full transcript.
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How Jobliebe Began.

Gert has been in the job market for a while, starting in banking and insurance, and has close to 20 years of experience in HR, with recent years being primarily involved in acquisitions, implementations, and collective bargaining agreements. After so long on the sideline, Gert felt it was time to explore the frontline to see if he could create movement in the labor market and created Jobliebe.

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What is Jobliebe’s Goal?

Jobliebe’s aim is to make the labor market more accessible and transparent for employers and professionals. The Jobliebe platform contributes to this in two ways.

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For Professionals.

Jobliebe helps professionals gain insight into who they are, what skills they possess, and what can be done with those skills. Jobliebe’s platform uses pattern recognition, profiling tests and questionnaires to enrich a person’s resume. Based on those tools, it soon becomes apparent that not only is a client a fine carpenter, to use an example, but they have other untapped skills that can be used to expand their job prospects.

Therefore, Jobliebe’s goal for professionals is to help them uncover hidden skills to expand their job opportunities. Just because a person started their career as a carpenter or secretary, for example, doesn’t mean they’re stuck there for life. Jobliebe thus opens doors for people that were invisible to them before.

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For employers.

Of course, this principle works for employers as well. Companies and institutions tend to look narrowly when filling vacancies. Those looking for a bus driver look at people who are already driving buses. Employers who look more broadly, not at the position but at the skills, get a much larger pond in which to fish.

Choosing candidates based on their skills may require some additional training, but in today’s scarce labor market, that should not be a problem - certainly not if you can find demonstrably suitable people based on skills. In this way, Jobliebe offers a fundamental change in the way labor supply and demand are linked. 

The platform is not only used for people who are 'just' looking for another job. It is also for people looking for alternative opportunities or side jobs that align with their passions and talents. Or because they want to return to work as an apprentice or lateral entrant. This frees up extra labor capacity for the current shortage of skilled workers.

And then comes the paperwork.

If the professional and the employer see eye to eye, then comes the paperwork, such as an employment contract. Under the name Jobliebe Direct, you can formalize the collaboration directly through the platform, making it easier to formalize the collaboration.

In addition, the labor market could benefit from some innovation: a job for life is now passé. Jobliebe offers the possibility of drawing up a contract based on employment, self-employment, or temporary work. The technology automatically generates all the different options, along with tax and labor law frameworks. This ensures both parties that things are legally sound, and the employer is compliant with existing legislation. 

For the employer, this offers an extremely efficient process. Digitalizing and automating the contract process means that employment contracts are drawn up a lot faster, with fewer labor law and tax risks.

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In practice.

Jobliebe is going strong and is currently running a pilot with three different client groups. Three different approaches have been chosen: regional, sectoral, and company-specific. 

• Regionally, we work with De Riverboard, a partnership of some 500 companies in Maassluis, Vlaardingen, and Schiedam. These companies want to advance each other openly and honestly, where the exchange of well-suited personnel can be of interest to all concerned.

• Sector-wise, Jobliebe is working with four grid operators and several energy transition contractors to see if the platform can bring people together within the sector. For example, think of workers who install solar panels or the people who work on high-voltage pylons, who would like to do a completely different job within the sector.

• Company-specific work with several hospitals that collaborate with each other and want to discover if these institutions can also build a joint success story.

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The kickoff with these three customer groups is an ideal start for Jobliebe. Partly because they see the importance of this new approach, and partly because they appreciate user-friendly technology. In hospitals and other large organizations, planners often struggle with managing their labor capacity, requiring multiple steps to find a solution. Hiring the right people is an art in itself, and the paperwork comes with tax and labor risks that are not always easy to oversee. Jobliebe simplifies this process, making it a lot easier.