"I FEEL LIKE ONE OF THEM"

INTERVIEW WITH WORK PLANNER ERWIN SNIJDERS

Erwin Snijders loves a nice workplace, a good working atmosphere and challenging, beautiful projects. Through Velox, he has been working on such projects since 2019: Schiphol's A-pier and Rembrandt Park One. The vision of the profession of a builder of the new generation.

BUILDING AND LOGISTICS

Building is something Erwin Snijders (32) was brought up on. His father worked as a work planner and project leader in construction and, as a 9-year-old boy, he always took him to construction sites. And in their free time, they enjoyed putting together toys, water rockets and even entire carports. Over two decades later, much has changed in the life of the Work Planner from Huizen, but it still largely revolves around construction.

Yet Snijders' career did not begin in construction. He successfully completed VMBO, MTS+ and a HBO study in architecture, but left school in the middle of the construction crisis, in 2012. So he started part-time as an "operator" at a company that handled logistics for Wehkamp. "In retrospect, those two 'lost' years were a very good learning experience, especially in warehouse management," he says. "Very useful, especially now that in construction we increasingly have to work on a postage stamp and just-in-time delivery is the norm.

UTILITY

In 2014, he did manage to get a job as a Work Planner, with builder and developer Trebbe. This too was a good learning experience. He was introduced to many types of projects, from houses and apartments to renovations and utility construction. Snijders: "Non-residential construction attracted me the most. Unique complex projects requiring creativity." After five years at family-owned Trebbe, the itch began to grow. He wanted bigger, more challenging. And he knew that Ballast Nedam was building a new sustainable A-pier at Schiphol Airport. "I then deliberately contacted Velox to get on that project. With success."

I deliberately contacted Velox to get on the A pier. With success."

PACKAGE MANAGER PHASE-OUT

The A-pier project gave Snijders a work experience he never wanted to miss. "The number of partners, clients and stakeholders was so great: from security and Royal Military Police to catering and operators." But the high-quality materials and international cooperation also made it fascinating. "I worked with Turkish and Portuguese colleagues, then you have to find the correct English technical terms. I like to bite into something like that."

After a year, he was offered the opportunity to become "package manager" for the completion of the pier. Snijders seized that opportunity with both hands. In that role, he managed five work planners. "I learned to make the big tasks manageable for the team by dividing them into small blocks, so that we could get to the end result in a controlled way and step by step."

TIME-OUT

When the cooperation between Schiphol and Ballast Nedam began to come to an end last fall, Snijders opted for a three-month time-out. "My wife was due to give birth to our youngest son a month later, and our oldest was almost two. So there was plenty to do at home. Work-life balance is important to me."

There was also time to think about the next step. In this busy phase of life, that should be "a pass," Snijders thought. A nice project that did require creativity, but little evening work. "Velox responded well to my request. They also looked at me as a person and introduced me to Dura Vermeer. ''After the introductory meeting, I was immediately excited."

REMBRANDT PARK ONE

Since December 2021, he has now been working on the Rembrandt Park One project in Amsterdam. With enormous pleasure. Although he is the only hired worker on the project, he feels that makes no difference. "The project manager leaves you free to do your own thing. Colleagues are always ready to spar. I feel like one of them."

The modernly furnished construction shack, with fine views of the adjacent Rembrandt Park, is one of the pluses. "Good light, good coffee, sit-stand desks for everyone. They don't even have those in many office buildings. When I compare that to the construction huts I used to go to with my father, they were blue with smoke and full of dilapidated furniture."

"Colleagues are always ready to spar. I feel like one of them."

NO STANDARD OFFICE COLOSSUS

Rembrandt Park was a 9-story office building from the 1960s next to the A-10 Ring Road in Amsterdam New West. In terms of insulation and air quality, it was badly outdated, says Snijders. "We get to turn it back into something beautiful at this triple A location," he says. "It is a special design, not a standard office colossus. People who see it often think it will be residential apartments. On top will be two new floors, with lots of glass and great views. Down in the plinth will be a gym and a large restaurant that will also be open to people from the neighborhood and visitors to the park."

The main challenges for Snijders at Rembrandt Park One: finding budget-neutral solutions for the unexpected situations you encounter in a renovation project. A floor that turns out to be just a little lower than expected, or a construction that is made just a little differently than it was on archive drawings. "I love solving such puzzles."

SHARES

Two challenges are currently giving the Work Planner additional headaches: the scarcity of materials and personnel. "With materials, for example, it's about steel and aluminum. Sometimes only a different steel profile is available than was in the original plan, which does disrupt the process. The trick is to get there as soon as possible."

He sees the staff shortage as a larger and longer-term problem. Main cause in his view: not enough people are coming out of school with their hands want work or choose the contracting industry. "Salary increases for these positions can help, but a good image is more important. And it can."

"The image of construction no longer matches reality"

Because that image, Snijders says, no longer matches reality. "There is a new generation working in construction. There are also many new and cool techniques available. Especially in the field of digitization. For example, here we no longer drag packs of paper around the construction site. All the workers have a tablet on which they load the pieces. There isn't even a printer in the shed. And in consultations with the customer, we walk through the building with virtual reality glasses on."