By 2030, 30 percent of all Defense employees must be women. Now that is still 16 percent, writes State Secretary Van der Maat to the House of Representatives. He thinks it is “a good time” to sharpen the ambition of “one of the largest employers in the Netherlands”.
The Ministry of Defense is struggling with a significant staff shortage and wants to hire many new people. This should include a much larger share of women, according to the State Secretary for Defence. He therefore wants to give preference to a woman “with equal suitability”.
Van der Maat takes into account that the measures will evoke “different sentiments” in the organization. He emphasizes that reviewing the requirements does not mean “that we are sacrificing quality, but on the contrary broadening, accelerating and differentiating where necessary”.
He assumes that working with a target figure will not work at all levels. At the Marine Corps, combat units in the Land Forces and among technicians “these developments need more time”, he writes.
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