TNO supports colleagues who also make a difference as reservists

Since 2021, TNO offers a dedicated reservist scheme (pdf) setting out arrangements on salary, leave and pension. Hofkamp explains: 'Becoming a reservist while working at TNO is a win-win. It creates value not only for the Netherlands, but also for the employee and for TNO as an organisation.'

Every year, the COO hosts a dinner for TNO reservists. This gathering focuses on knowledge sharing, connection and recognition of their commitment both within and beyond TNO.

Learning to work under different conditions

A reservist combines a civilian career with service in the Ministry of Defence and may be deployed for training, exercises, and operational or support activities. Through training, exercises or support operations, reservists develop skills that are also valuable in their day-to-day work.

Those experiences can be particularly valuable in an innovative organisation such as TNO. Defence also needs an enormous diversity of knowledge and skills, Hofkamp explains.

'Whether you work on safety and cyber resilience, digitalisation and data , advanced technologies, logistics and infrastructure, energy and materials challenges, or health and employability: knowledge that can be of great value to Defence can be found in almost every area of TNO and within our Services organisation. And the reverse is also true. Reservists often have a more general profile too. People with a wide range of skills, expertise and experience can contribute. Provided they meet the Ministry of Defence's requirements, for example there is the maximum age of 55 years old.'

Contributing to resilience

Defence aims to increase the number of reservists in the Netherlands from 9,000 to 20,000 by 2030. Reservists provide valuable additional capacity to the regular armed forces and contribute through a wide variety of roles and areas of expertise.

If the armed forces are deployed on a large scale, extra capacity is needed to keep the Netherlands running. Hofkamp says: 'Reservists play an essential role in this. People with very diverse work experience contribute to that, whether in logistics, healthcare, security or specialist knowledge, for example in the field of cyber security.'

'As an organisation, we feel responsible for contributing to the resilience of the Netherlands,' says Hofkamp. 'Supporting reservists is one way we do that. This effort does not stand alone. We also make employees more resilient, for example by preparing them for prolonged power outages, we organised a Week of Resilience and we continue to engage with organisations and employees to raise awareness and improve preparedness.'

Why TNO makes room for reservists

As a strategic partner of Defence, TNO sees great value in enabling employees to become reservists. Employees bring new perspectives, build a broader network and gain insight into the challenges Defence faces every day. At least as important, however, is their personal development.

'TNO wants to give employees the space to develop and make a positive impact on society, both in their work at TNO and beyond,' says Hofkamp. 'Becoming a reservist contributes to that.'