The importance of craftsmanship

Cities consist of various areas, prospering areas but also areas that are in distress. The current Dutch approach is to improve these distressed areas by focusing on the aspirations of the people living in these areas. It is believed people wish to advance in life and get out of the negative spiral of decline. To get out of the negative spiral of decline they have to start climbing the social ladder. This can be via different routes. The work route is one of these. The “Ik zit op Zuid” project thought the midtech sector might provide opportunities for the young inhabitants of Rotterdam- South to start climbing the social ladder via the work route. Local economic development projects try to improve these distressed areas and aim to get people on the work route. Many local economic development projects aim at changing the skills of the inhabitants by focusing on the supply side of the labor market. This often results in an oversupply in the labor market. Demand side approaches traditionally target industries or sectors. Occupational- industrial targeting is however another demand side approach which can target more specifically for an area. This research illustrates the usage of the occupational- industrial approach for an area in distress. It is discussed that when using this approach in an area in distress some conditions have to be satisfied before the occupational – industrial approach can achieve its best result. The conditions that are mentioned are adequate human capital, adequate mobility levels, adequate social capital, reduction of substance abuse and reduction of crime. The research focuses on the midtech sector in the Rotterdam- South area. The research question central in this research is: What is the economic potential of the midtech sector in the Rotterdam region and is the potential workforce in Rotterdam- South able to make use of the economic potential in the future? It can be concluded that the midtech sector has economic potential for the Rotterdam region and for the inhabitants of Rotterdam- South. However the inhabitants will only be able to make use of this potential if some conditions are satisfied that currently obstruct their employability. The midtech sector has economic potential because of several reasons. First, a large cluster of firms is present that operates regionally and internationally which requires high value craftsmanship. Secondly, many firms in the midtech sector have entered a niche market in which they can innovate and acquire a world leading position in this niche. Thirdly, a lot of subcontracting between the midtech cluster and the petrochemical cluster is present. The petrochemical cluster is important for the City of Rotterdam for its additional value. The 2 midtech cluster is able to strengthen the petrochemical cluster, which increases the importance of the midtech cluster. These three factors increase the competitive position of the midtech sector. As a consequence of this strong competitive position the midtech sector in Rotterdam will not be easily outsourced in the near future. This is a fourth reason why the midtech sector has economic potential. The economic potential is however threatened by a very acute problem. The biggest strength of the midtech sector, the craftsmen with a lot of knowledge acquired through the years that characterize the sector, will retire the coming years. Not enough youngsters are currently in technical education to fill this gap. Without the qualified craftsman the midtech cluster loses one of its competitive advantages and is at risk of being outsourced. In addition, if no Dutch craftsmen are present to fill the vacancies, foreign workers will be hired. As a consequence the Dutch knowledge will be transfered to other countries, with a risk of declining quality in the Netherlands. The potential for the inhabitants of Rotterdam- South is large. They are in a position to fill the vacancies of the retired personnel, because most jobs in the midtech sector in Rotterdam can be found in the near vicinity of the Pact op Zuid area. This gives the inhabitants a good starting position, because they tend to have a lower job search area and a lower area of reach. Moreover many firms wish to hire people from the region and see the region as a large potential labor pool. However the inhabitants from Rotterdam –South can only make use of this potential if some conditions that obstruct their employability are satisfied. A necessary condition is a higher educational attainment, preferable MBO 3-4 in technical specializations. A second necessary condition is adequate soft skills, which means that higher levels of motivation and work ethic are required. Better mobility levels are important conditions to help increase the job search and reach area of the inhabitants from Rotterdam- South. Positive role models and good informal networks can further increase the amount of inhabitants of Rotterdam- South working in the midtech sector. Several policy recommendations are formulated as a result of these conclusions. These recommendations focus on using and increasing the economic potential of the midtech sector by increasing the awareness and enlarging the interest for technical occupations and increasing the amount of youngsters following technical education. Moreover the location environment needs to be secured for the midtech firms established in the Rotterdam region. Also some recommendations are formulated how the inhabitants of Rotterdam- South can use the opportunities of the midtech sector. This involves creating awareness about the possible occupations in the midtech sector, trying to increase the educational level to MBO 3-4, 3 increasing the mobility levels to increase the area of search and reach of the inhabitants and support social projects using positive role models to get people interested in the midtech sector. This research is not without limitations. The limitations that have to be mentioned are the following. Not all midtech personnel in the region is included in this research, the data comes from different sources which means that there are some differences in geographic scope, our information is based on a relative small group of firms compared to the entire midtech sector and we used interviews to gather our information which is a method that is subject to some problems. For future research it is recommended to use questionnaires to gather data for a database. This enables the researcher to run an analysis on the important occupations in an industry more easily. In general more research is needed about the occupational- industrial targeting approach. Especially concerning areas in distress the approach could benefit from more research for which the current research is illustrative.