A chance at a new career

ABN AMRO colleague
ABN AMRO colleague
Article tags:
  • Diversity and inclusion

We’ve all seen the footage of countless refugees looking for a new home. Some end up in the Netherlands and are allowed to stay. From that moment on, they become ‘status holders’. But getting to stay here doesn’t mean you can easily find paid work. For status holders, having a fair shot at a job isn’t straightforward at all.

Open borders, closed doors

Fleeing your country, you only take what you absolutely must. Diplomas and certificates don’t make the cut. So how do you show your new country that you’re well-educated and have valuable work experience? You can’t. What’s more, status holders often haven’t worked in a long time. That gap shows on their cv. They don’t speak the language and have to build their network from scratch. All this makes it nearly impossible for status holders to find work that fits their skills. It’s unfair and such a waste of talent.

Starting over

Status holders deserve to use their talents. That’s why a group of our employees joined forces with the Refugee Talent Hub and the municipality of Amsterdam. Together, they created ‘Reboot’. Through this program, ABN AMRO helped eighty status holders land jobs between 2019 and 2022. Real work that matters and fits their skillset. Till 2025, we aim to help another 20 people with refugee backgrounds do the same thing every year.

Intensive supervision

Intelligence, application and ambition are the same the world over, but working methods and customs often differ from country to country. Those differences shouldn’t be allowed to get in the way of employment. To maximise the programme’s effectiveness, the status holder, the rebooters and their manager are given intensive supervision. Everything from learning Dutch to intercultural communication and personal development: we’re pulling out all the stops to ensure that intercultural differences on the workfloor become an added value, not an obstacle.

How Reboot works

Through Reboot, talented status holders can book a meeting with one of our ABN AMRO managers. If we hit it off and there’s potential, we offer them a paid position. It’s a crucial first step towards financial independence and building a secure future.

Intensive support

Using your brains to get things done is something people do all around the world. But workplace culture can be very different from country to country. It’s a shame if that stops you from landing a new job. To make Reboot work well, everyone in de program gets plenty of support. Both the Rebooters and their managers. Learning Dutch, communicating effectively, personal growth: we do everything we can to make cultural differences work. So they become advantages, not obstacles.

Double impact

Reboot has set an example. Rabobank and Philips, among others, have also hired status holders. We’ve shared our knowledge and experience with these companies, making even more of a difference. Twice as much, in fact.

Learning Dutch, communicating well, personal development: we do everything we can to turn cultural differences in the workplace into an advantage, not an obstacle.