Top Talent Michiel Bloemen returns to Twente to fulfil his ambitions

“My employer at the time moved to the west. After having worked there for 8 years, it was a nice trigger to explore options. I already gained experience with major projects in the chemical, oil, gas and pipeline industry with a focus on safety. This turned out to fit well with ROSEN.”

“We develop innovations in the water industry, in robot technology, and we are very active in data analysis combined with artificial intelligence. Our office in Enschede plays an important role.”

“During my career I have worked in various countries in Asia, the Middle East, North America and within Europe. In 2008 I started at ROSEN in Oldenzaal as a Project Manager. Subsequently, as Area Manager, I was responsible for Western Europe and later for South America. You can, of course, imagine that quite some travelling was involved, but I enjoyed doing that.”

“After 3 years the opportunity arose to start working in Calgary, Canada. At first, I took on the role of General Manager Operations, after which I changed to being part of the management as Vice President Business Resourcing. In this role, the focus is on people, machines, software and buildings, so basically everything that is needed to execute projects. I have now been back in Oldenzaal for 1.5 years, and I am now part of the 3-person management team.”

“Every country has its differences, of course. There are differences in customs, food and business culture, but I think you should look at what connects us and at the same time, be open to the differences. I think most people have the same basic principles. By focusing on those principles, you can bridge differences. Such basic principles are, to me, for example, how people think about their family or how they imagine the future. When you truly open up to other people, you can learn a lot and greatly enrich yourself.”

“After 7 years of working for ROSEN Canada, the opportunity arose to take on the role of VP Business Collaboration in Oldenzaal for ROSEN Europe. This appealed to me because I can contribute to the organisation in Oldenzaal with my gained experience from Canada. Twente is a very challenging region within ROSEN as we operate in many countries. Canada is a big country, but the work here is more challenging. I am now dealing with 60 countries. Another reason to return to Oldenzaal is the timing. I have twins of 11 years old, and they will soon go to secondary school. The children grew up in Canada. Moving to Oldenzaal was a big step for them, but if we were ever going to make the step, now was the time. Twente is a nice environment for me. My family lives here, as well as some of my friends. It really felt like a homecoming. Not only going to Canada was an adventure, but coming back was too.”

“Collaborating is one of the spearheads in our organisation. We are convinced that bringing different people together provides more diverse perspectives in our daily operations. In Oldenzaal, we employ than 20 nationalities. Diversity and inclusiveness are of great importance to us. Collaboration results in feedback, which, in turn, results in further personal development. We work in a very complex and rapidly changing high-tech world in which bringing together various specialisms in one team is the only way to make progress. This is impossible without collaboration. Fortunately, we have a lot of knowledge in Oldenzaal, in Lingen just across the border in Germany and in our new office in Enschede, across the UT.”

“From Oldenzaal, we operate in more than 60 countries. The world around us is changing rapidly and responding to that changing world is our biggest challenge. Think of complying with local legislation, the changing business climate and, for example, trade barriers. Technological growth is crucial to offer the best solutions for our customers and to stay ahead of our competition.”

“We are always looking for connections in the region, especially with companies that are also looking for (technical) talent. I believe that we can always learn from other companies and that cooperation is a must to retain and attract talent for our region.”

“I believe that we must all contribute to a better and more sustainable world. As ROSEN Group, we are becoming more active in the water industry. Water is increasingly becoming a scarce commodity in the world. Looking at water transport, somewhat our field of expertise, wasting water has never been given attention to. If you used to put one litre of water in a water supply network, and on the other side less than one litre would come out, it would not be seen as a problem. Even though the water was lost, there was no environmental damage. Now we realise that in the end, new water must replace the wasted water. This new water must be purified and transported, all of which costs energy. Better control of this process is contributing to becoming more sustainable. It helps to need less energy to pump water around and purify it, so in the end, there is less waste. We see sustainability as an opportunity and as a market. Now we are talking about Europe, but let’s take the Middle East, for example, where water is extremely scarce. In such areas, we see opportunities, and therefore we are investigating them. ROSEN Group also has the objective of using its high-quality technology to protect people and the environment. We have also recently been active in the transition from gas to hydrogen pipelines.”

“We offer high-quality local jobs and great (international) career opportunities. In this way, we try to attract and retain people for our region. We are an interesting employer for highly educated people, as we have a lot to offer. ROSEN can play an important role in attracting new talent to the Twente region. By actively collaborating with other companies through ‘Techniekpact Twente’ we can not only attract talent but also retain it for the region. It is a challenge that we must continue to take on together with other companies, local politics and educational institutions. By joining forces, we can ensure that Twente is and remains one of the most beautiful regions in the Netherlands.”