(practice example)
The energy transition is one of the greatest social challenges of our time. To make it happen, tens of thousands of new professionals are needed. Network operators such as Alliander, Enexis and TenneT are looking for engineers and technicians who can help the Netherlands move forward in a sustainable way. At the same time, many status holders want nothing more than to build a future in the Netherlands. Many of them are motivated, have the right background and possess the talent to take on this work.
The Refugee Talent Hubs Energy Skills Programme brings these worlds together. It shows how you can tackle both labour shortages and integration at the same time. But the programme also shows that there is one key to success: language skills.
No language, there is no safety. Without language, there is no success.
Language and safety are recurring themes throughout the Energy Skills Programme. Because safety is more than wearing a helmet or gloves – it starts with understanding and being understood.
In the energy sector, safety is literally a matter of life and death. That is why language training is not a side issue, but an indispensable building block in Energy Skills. It makes the difference between risk and safety, between standing on the sidelines or joining in, between wanting and being able.
From understanding instructions to using the right technical terms and having the confidence to ask questions in the workplace – language is crucial in everything. For the participants themselves, their colleagues, and the organisation.
Language skills also form the basis for collaboration and the social dynamics within a team. When language barriers arise, they affect all aspects of an organisation and ultimately its success. Read more about this in our whitepaper ‘Language skills are not a ‘nice-to-have’ – they are a strategic asset’ or in the blog ‘Language isnt a soft skill – it’s your strategic superpower’.
Energy Skills Programme in practice
In 2024, Refugee Talent Hub launched the Energy Skills Programme in collaboration with Alliander, Enexis and TenneT. This preparatory programme prepares status holders for a career in the energy sector. Participants receive:
- Technical training
- Lessons on safety
- Intensive Dutch language training, focused on technical terms
- An introduction to Dutch work culture
Language Partners provided the language training, with a focus on safety. In addition, our sister organisation Mazzi-Inc. brought in the cultural dimension: how do you create a working environment of mutual understanding, where asking questions is natural and where newcomers feel safe to learn and grow?
Language Partners was deliberately chosen to implement the programme because of the positive experiences the participating partners had already with us. What’s more, our expertise was a perfect fit for the Energy Skills Programme: the energy sector is one of our focus industries, and we develop language programmes that are truly tailor-made.
Language skills and safety: results and impact
In 2025, the first group of 15 participants successfully completed the programme. For them, this meant developing new technical skills and learning the language needed to work safely, but also a concrete step towards employment and a sustainable future. This boosted their confidence to truly participate in a team.
One of the participants put it in this way:
“Good communication helps me to work more easily and effectively with my colleagues.”
For employers, it meant motivated employees who are not only technically competent, but also speak the language of their work.
Learning and working together
Refugee Talent Hub emphasised that the collaboration with Language Partners was pleasant, professional and reliable. More importantly, they learned together. Even when things did not go smoothly right away, valuable lessons were learned that directly contribute to the improvement of future programmes.
Or as one partner put it:
“What I appreciate most is the shared feeling: working together on the programme and really making something beautiful out of it.”
It’s wonderful how the essence of our name, what we do and what we are, come together there. We live up to our name: Language PARTNERS.
Language skills as the key to safety and success
Energy Skills demonstrates that language skills are not a luxury, but a strategic tool. They are the key to safety – literally in the workplace and figuratively in collaboration – and therefore to success, for newcomers and for organisations alike.
👉 Would you like to know more about how we can apply language skills in your sector? Feel free to contact us or download our whitepaper.
