WUR is looking for 800 new staff

Wageningen University & Research faces the challenge in 2019 of recruiting a record number of 800 new employees to fill 600 FTEs. Rector magnificus Arthur Mol made this announcement on 7 January at the New Year’s reception in Atlas. The new strategic plan was presented then too.
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After years of cutbacks at Wageningen Research and limited growth in funding at the university that meant curbs on expenditure, WUR will be getting more cash from the ministries of Agriculture and Education over the next few years. As a result, WUR will be able to create 250 new full-time jobs to cope with the growth in student numbers and fill the new programmes at Wageningen Research. WUR is also looking for people to replace staff who are leaving or retiring (a total of 350 FTEs). Normally WUR recruits around 400 new hires annually to fill over 300 full-time positions.

WUR will be setting up a special team to help fill all those vacancies. ‘We will be putting three recruiters to work,’ says Johan Kanis, recruitment manager at Corporate Human Resources. ‘They will help us come up with an approach that puts us on the radar of more candidates. They will also headhunt candidates for jobs at WUR,’ Furthermore, the recruiters will take a critical look at the job ad texts and the recruitment strategy.

The organization started this year with targeted recruitment campaigns. Last week, WUR ran an advert with ‘breakfast in 2030’, focusing on nutrition and with a link to vacancies in the field of nutrition. More campaigns will follow in the months to come, with links to the latest job vacancies. 

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