A Lot Can Change in a Year

Birthdays have a way of making you look back.

And when we look back at the past year at Ir Olav’s Globetrotters, one thing stands out: a lot has happened.

We became part of Profield. Sonja said goodbye to Globetrotters. Diane stepped into the role of sole director. We sharpened our focus on the Dutch technical market. And we found new ways to connect talented South Africans with opportunities at companies in the Netherlands.

Put like that, it all sounds quite neat and straightforward.

It definitely wasn’t that simple. 😉

But through all the changes, one thing has stayed exactly the same.

We believe South Africa is full of talented, well qualified people who deserve great opportunities. At the same time, there are Dutch companies struggling to find the skills they need.

Our job is to bring those two worlds together.

A bigger network and more opportunities

One of the biggest changes this year came in February, when Ir Olav’s Globetrotters became part of Profield.

For candidates, that means something really exciting.

More opportunities.

Profield knows the Dutch technical labour market extremely well, especially the production and manufacturing sectors. We know South Africa, South African professionals and what it takes to make a successful move to the Netherlands.

Put the two together and it opens the door to an even wider range of technical roles.

We’ve always recruited in areas like engineering and IT, but today we’re also working with more mechanical technicians, electrical technicians, all round technicians, PLC programmers, CNC millers and CNC turners.

And we’re already seeing some great stories come out of it.

This year, three South African female all round technicians started working at Dutch production companies. At a few of those companies, they were the first female technicians ever employed there.

At one company, that created a very practical little problem.

They didn’t have a ladies’ changing room.

So they had to build one.

We can talk for hours about diversity and creating more opportunities for women in technical careers, but sometimes a new changing room says enough.

Some changes are more personal

This year also marked the end of an important chapter for Globetrotters when Sonja left the business.

Sonja and Diane built Globetrotters together and spent years growing the company, supporting candidates, helping clients and building the community around us.

Today, Diane leads the business, supported by a team that’s grown enormously in confidence, experience and responsibility.

And that matters to you as a candidate.

Because behind your recruiter, your visa application, your relocation and your first few months in the Netherlands, there’s a whole team of people who know the process and genuinely care about how things work out for you.

Becoming part of Profield has given us more reach and more support, but we’re very protective of what makes Globetrotters, Globetrotters.

Personal contact.

Genuine involvement.

And taking responsibility for the people who trust us with one of the biggest decisions of their lives.

Moving to another country isn’t just a job change.

It can change your whole life.

Because sometimes one opportunity changes everything

This year reminded us of that again and again.

One of our more experienced South African professionals told us how grateful he was to still have the chance to take on such an exciting professional opportunity in the Netherlands at this stage of his career.

That kind of comment sticks with you.

Inside a recruitment company, it’s easy to talk about vacancies, interviews, placements, visas and processes.

But for the person on the other side, that same placement can mean something completely different.

A new career.

A better opportunity.

A fresh start for your family.

The chance to grow.

Or simply the chance to see what else is out there.

We see it in the three female technicians building careers in spaces where women have traditionally been underrepresented.

We see it in South Africans who move across the world with their partners and children and slowly start building a new home here.

And increasingly, we’re also seeing it in people who connect with Dutch companies without immediately moving to the Netherlands.

Connecting worlds doesn’t always mean getting on a plane

Johan is a great example.

He’s a highly experienced RPA developer who started working remotely from South Africa for a Dutch organisation this year.

He gets to know the organisation, learns how Dutch teams work and contributes his experience while still living in South Africa.

Over time, opportunities like this could also help build more knowledge and skills back home.

The first few weeks took some adjusting. Remote international collaboration works a little differently and asks something from both sides.

But it works.

And it reminded us of something important.

International recruitment doesn’t have to follow one fixed recipe.

The world of work is changing.

We need to move with it.

Which brings us to something we introduced this year.

Changing Lives, Connecting Worlds

We’re normally a little sceptical about nice sounding marketing lines that look good on a website but don’t really mean much.

This one feels different.

Because we see it happening every day.

We see it when a South African technician walks into a Dutch factory and becomes the first woman in her technical team.

We see it when a specialist stays in South Africa but becomes part of a Dutch organisation.

We see it when a candidate lands at Schiphol with a suitcase and a family and starts building a completely new life.

And we see it when a Dutch company that’s been looking for the right person for months suddenly realises that the talent they need might be sitting thousands of kilometres away in South Africa.

That’s what Changing Lives, Connecting Worlds means to us.

It’s not just a slogan.

It’s the reason we do what we do.

So what does the next year look like?

Probably more change.

More opportunities.

More South Africans joining Dutch companies.

More people discovering that their skills can take them further than they thought.

And, knowing us, probably a few surprises along the way.

That’s okay.

As South Africans know very well:

’n boer maak ’n plan.

If you’re a technical professional in South Africa and you’ve been wondering what working and living in the Netherlands could look like, this might be the year to find out.

More than 400 South African professionals have already made the journey with Ir Olav’s Globetrotters, with support through recruitment, visa processes, relocation and those first important months of settling into life in the Netherlands.

We’ll keep doing what we’ve always believed in.

Finding talented South Africans.

Connecting them with great Dutch companies.

And helping them engineer their Dutch life.

Changing Lives, Connecting Worlds.

Engineer Your Dutch Life.

Interested in becoming one of our next Globetrotters?

Visit www.thenextglobetrotter.co.za or contact us at recruitment@irolav.world.