E-Connect

The energy transition is not moving fast enough, in part due to labour shortages. Setting us up for failure in meeting climate goals and thus burdening future generations with even greater problems.

There’s a lot of untapped labour potential, who are doing less than they can or want to, or they have jobs with little prospects.

Through the E-Connect initiative, we want to contribute to the acceleration of the energy transition through area-specific experiments, starting in the IJmond region. At the same time, we are retraining people for jobs that make the energy transition possible. Together, we are learning how to locally solve obstacles. We scale these learnings individually or collectively.

Why E-Connect?

The motivation for Amsterdam Economic Board and CrossOver to work on this issue was prompted by the successes of the TechConnect programme. This Amsterdam Economic Board programme activated hidden IT talent from 2019 to 2022 through a neighbourhood-oriented approach.

E-Connect will apply the successful components of the TechConnect approach to the energy transition. In doing so, we contribute to creating valuable work for everyone in the Amsterdam Metropolitan Area.

What we are working on

• Building the E-community. This scouting network scales up existing, area-specific initiatives by helping them professionalise, expand their reach and access funding/grants.
• Establishing the E-mployer Programme. This employer approach increases employers’ maturity level in recruiting, developing and retaining hidden talent. As a result, people from the E-community get in touch with a suitable employer. With a proven scan, we give employers insight into what they are already doing well and what they can still improve upon. We connect employers with initiatives that help them improve. This is how we ensure a sustainable increase in employer maturity.
• Cockpit development. E-talent is all about getting to know and addressing potential obstacles in the participants’ journey. We identify at least 20 barriers that people now experience in the chain. For each barrier, we describe how often it was identified and what actions we took to structurally resolve it.
• Scouting, selecting, work-fitting, training and onboarding 50 people from the IJmond region through existing initiatives to jobs in energy transition.

Results with E-Connect

• Raised funding for the implementation of the experiments E-community, E-mployer and E-talent through the Just Transition Fund and Institute Gak