Ludicrous recruitment campaign De Zorgcirkel for vacation buddies in elderly care

On the road with hippie camper van to recruit students for all-inclusive vacation job

In a bright orange camper van, they are looking for vacation staff for elderly care: residential care location Prins Hendrik of De Zorgcirkel, specialist in elderly care, is touring the care colleges in the Netherlands this month to get students excited. With the campaign ‘Vakantiemaatje’ they are recruiting young people for an all-inclusive vacation job to solve the staff shortage during the summer months. The residents of Prince Henry play a role in the campaign.  

Carefree summer 

It’s an annual challenge in elder care: finding staff to fill summer shortages. It is a period when many employees go on vacation and the pressure on the remaining colleagues increases. Joost Lammerts, regional manager Egmond-Heiloo at De Zorgcirkel: “Even during the vacations our elderly deserve personalized care and loving attention. We want to give them a carefree summer and that’s why we are making an extra effort to recruit motivated people. With this campaign we call on students to become vacation buddies. Under the motto ‘If you take care of our elderly, we take care of you’, we offer them a well-paid vacation job including accommodation, close to the beach.”

With hippie bus along care colleges

For the recruitment of vacation staff, residential care facility Prins Hendrik does not opt for a call-up via a traditional recruitment advertisement. To emphasize the vacation feeling, a bright orange camper van plays the leading role in the campaign. The eye-catching bus adorns the front garden of Prins Hendrik, is visible on posters and flyers, and literally gets moving by visiting various care training facilities. Incidentally, having a care training or diploma is not a prerequisite for becoming a vacation buddy. Besides professional care, offering companionship is just as important. From playing bocce ball to eating ice cream on the beach, it’s all about giving seniors a great summer day.

All-inclusive vacation job

The concept of vacation buddy came about because of the attractive location of Prince Henry. The residential-care location is in Egmond aan Zee, which is a popular vacation destination as the third largest seaside resort in the Netherlands. With a workplace close to the beach, accommodation arranged, discounted meals, free bike hire and a well-paid salary, Prins Hendrik offers an all-inclusive vacation job in elderly care. In addition to Prins Hendrik, young people can also become vacation buddies in Alkmaar, one of De Zorgcirkel’s other locations in North Holland. Students who are interested sign up via Zorgcirkel.nl/vakantiemaatje. On Instagram and Facebook (search term: ‘vakantiemaatje’) older people and employees share their personal stories.

For more information: Zorgcirkel.nl