Skipper Patrick Hermans full of praise for COMPETING

In his work, the Belgium independent inland shipping entrepreneur Patrick Hermans is daily confronted with the difference between required competences and training offered. Because of his role in the Belgium inland shipping sector, he is familiar with the COMPETING project, although he is not directly involved in training himself.

But, Patrick knows, ‘’courses are fundamentally different from each other. The sector also believe that these training courses do not sufficiently match the required competences.’’ Patrick Hermans As a shipowner, it is also difficult for Hermans to find well-trained employees. ‘’There is a shortage of Belgian and even Dutch people with the right skills,’’ he explains. ‘’I recently switched to hiring employees with a different nationality. I’m very satisfied with that so far. However, that does not mean that as an entrepreneur I will not help the training courses in my own region, for example by offering internships and workplaces. On the contrary.’’

Hermans thinks it’s a good thing that employers and employees’ organizations, industry associations and educational institutions are working on making training courses for European inland shipping unambiguously and futureproof. ‘’The COMPETING project is a good development,’’ he says. ‘’And it would be even better if an  nambiguously social status was also introduced for all employees in inland shipping. Such a status could end unfair competition and the price war in the industry.’’