In the spring of 2025, Volvo Cars added production of the fully electric Volvo EX30 at its Ghent production site. The Volvo EX30 is the third fully electric car produced in the plant, and will help meet the high demand for this model across Europe and for global export. To deliver this expansion and increase production capacity, Volvo Car Gent needed new talent.
Belgium, and specifically the East Flanders region, has one of Europe's tightest labor markets. Volvo Car Gent, in collaboration with Randstad Group Belgium, developed a fully integrated talent model that secures essential production objectives. This partnership builds a sustainable and scalable ecosystem covering the entire talent lifecycle, from recruitment to retention. It’s a prime example of Randstad's Partner for Talent strategy in action, with an in-depth analysis of business demand leading to an integrated solution that links business and economic goals to social inclusion.
building a sustainable workforce in a tight market.
As a crucial European production site, Volvo Car Gent continually seeks maximum efficiency. The challenge lies in ensuring a stable and qualified influx of personnel, in combination with optimizing talent retention.
Randstad’s analysis pointed to the importance of strengthening training and guidance and creating a supportive work environment to retain talent long-term.We also needed to address the issue that the traditional labor pool is insufficient to match the scale of demand, while language barriers exclude a significant portion of the potential workforce from full labor market participation.
an integrated talent ecosystem.
Randstad has established an end-to-end talent model that begins with the proactive creation of a broad talent pool, through collaboration between two specialized hubs:
Our Talent Center, a specialized off-site hub, manages the recruitment funnel. The center implements customized recruitment marketing and branding, including on-location photography, to target talent.
Our integrated Onsite Delivery Center at the production site then takes over. With in-depth knowledge of the organizational culture and the exact job qualifications, our team there ensures quality matching on both skills and cultural fit, and manages onboarding, planning and support throughout the entire lifecycle of this employment. From this pool, the Delivery Center provided Volvo Car Gent with 2,023 starters for a long-term assignment in 2025, and over 1,000 flexible workers to absorb production peaks. In addition, we used our ‘work now’ app to optimize planning and smart shifting for the flex pool.
The effectiveness of this integrated approach, from branding to planning, is confirmed by a high fulfillment rate of 99%. This in turn has made a key contribution to Volvo Car Gent’s efficiency.
Our partnership with Randstad goes far beyond traditional staffing; it is a strategic collaboration built on shared values of uncompromising safety, quality and social responsibility. Facing a tight labor market, we needed a scalable and effective solution to successfully launch our new car model while guaranteeing production continuity. Randstad’s integrated approach is how we secure our talent pipeline and drive our business performance.
breaking down structural barriers.
To ensure scalability and resolve the challenge of the limited Dutch-speaking pool, Randstad introduced the ‘Language Coaching at the Workplace’ project.
This project, led by Randstad RiseSmart Employability, is a strategic investment in equity & inclusion. It offers intensive, on-the-job language support and customized coaching focused on the terminology, safety, and instructions required for the job, supporting integration into the workforce and also wider society.
The results demonstrate the strength of this approach: the project has resulted in 350 successful job placements. Moreover, the retention rate for non-native-speaking employees is 10% higher than that for native Dutch-speaking employees. By tackling the language barrier, Randstad has not only sustainably broadened Volvo Car Gent’s talent pool but also contributed to reducing inequality and building a resilient labor market.
This strategic partnership with Volvo Car Gent demonstrates how Randstad's holistic, technology-driven model and commitment to social added value lead to a sustainable competitive advantage for our clients.