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roundtable shipyards “Safety is followed closely by our strong backlog of business that allows an employee the comfort of knowing there is job security at Austal. ” – Don Keeler,

Vice President of Human Resources,

Austal USA design and planning. Career growth and access to skills train- What is your mix of (contract vs. permanent) employ- ing is another priority for most of our employees. It would be ees? Is one situation more desirable than another?

hard for someone to ? nd a better place to work. Arold de Vries: It changes a bit from country to country. In a country like Vietnam, everyone is on a Damen contract. But

Arold de Vries: If I ask the 59-year old worker who has al- that can be a short term contract – say one year, or a contract ways been through collective labor agreements, he’s probably for life. If I look at our Netherlands head of? ce situation, we focused on his holidays and his salary. That’s still important. have about 1,500 international people here, of which 1,100

But, if I talk to people in our of? ce here, we have internation- are actually Damen payroll employees. Of those 1,100, maybe al people running around doing all sorts of job descriptions, 30 percent are on a 1 or 2 year contract. Not everyone wants salary is not number one. It’s the development opportunities. to work with just a one year contract, so we are always as-

People want to know – either within their own job, or if there sessing whether that’s the right way to go. If we’re talking is another job coming – how can I develop myself to do that. about a repair yard that’s under a bit of pressure at moment,

That includes coaching from the line manager, it includes per- the tendency is to go with a shorter contract period. In the Far sonal time management, etc. That’s for the typical employee East, we tend to go with the inde? nite longer term contract, under 40. also because the competition is pretty ? erce. Younger people will tend to hop companies. There is no one answer. It de-

Sue Haley: Safety comes ? rst. We want everyone to succeed pends geographically and depending on job description. Also, and go home to their families at night without any injuries. remember, we are a privately owned company. So the pressure 40 | Maritime Professional | 3Q 2015 34-49 Q3 MP2015.indd 40 9/18/2015 10:03:51 AM