NS aspires to remain one of the most attractive employers in the Netherlands. In 2020, we were fifteenth on Intelligence Group's ranking of favourite employers, and featured among the top 5 of favourite employers identified by the Image Survey of Intermediair.
NS recruited over 2,800 new employees in 2020, of whom approximately 2,400 were offered a permanent contract. In 2020, we filled 1,555 vacancies for people with vocational qualifications and 879 vacancies for higher professional education / university graduates (2019: 2,671 and 1,064 respectively). We hired a total of 301 guards, 490 train drivers and 112 Safety & Service staff. Owing to the COVID-19 crisis, we engaged fewer trainees than usual (11). In addition, we have taken on 13 new operational management trainees, who will start their work in 2021. The hiring desk filled 409 temporary positions. Demand for hired staff was lower last year due to NS's financial situation, and we also had fewer permanent positions to fill.
In mid-March we switched overnight to fully digital interviews with candidates, who received extensive guidance throughout this process from the recruitment team. In the summer we also switched to a fully digital onboarding process for new colleagues.