Powered by our people
We are investing in creating a workforce that is ready for the future, and that is equipped with the skills needed to meet the evolving needs of our clients. We want to make sure we can attract and retain the best talent for our business by offering career development and work that aligns with our mission: Improving Quality of Life.
The role of the Lovinklaan Foundation
The Lovinklaan Foundation is Arcadis’ largest shareholder. The entire Board of the Foundation consists of Arcadians from diverse backgrounds and countries. To fulfil its purpose of empowering Arcadians to reach their full potential and drive meaningful change, the Foundation reinvests its dividends into programs that empower Arcadians to develop their skills and contribute meaningfully to the company’s success. A range of Arcadis’ programs and initiatives are powered and supported by the Lovinklaan Foundation, including the Energy Transition Academy, Imagine, Quest, Skills Powered Organization, Sustain Abilities, and Ignite.
The Lovinklaan Foundation also supports and facilitates Local Sparks. This social impact program empowers Arcadians to create impactful community projects that improve quality of life and promote sustainability, whether through mangrove reforestation near Manila, or public transit projects in Tanzania, or providing access to clean water in Brazil. The program, which celebrated its fifth anniversary in 2024, has now impacted more than 81,000 people with more than 100 ongoing or completed projects.
Our Skills Powered Organization journey
We have always had exceptional people at Arcadis. Now we are a truly global company we need to understand where in the world our skills are, and what skills we need to build for the future of our people and our business. Becoming a Skills Powered Organization (SPO) allows us to maximize our people’s potential and align their skills to our global business needs.
An SPO is an organization that prioritizes a skills-based approach to support project resourcing and career development. By transforming ourselves into an SPO, we’re giving Arcadians more control over their career progression based on their skills and ambitions, empowering them to adapt, innovate, and thrive in an ever-evolving world of work. In 2024, our AI-assisted SPO platform was rolled out for the first time, helping 15,000 Arcadians identify and match their skills to job openings and project assignments from around Arcadis, in addition to offering personalized career pathways, learning modules and networking opportunities within the business.
The changes we’re putting in place will drive Arcadis’ growth as we offer our clients the best skills from the Arcadis network globally, all while optimizing our productivity levels. That’s why, in 2025, we plan to increase the opportunities to involve more of our people and focus on increasing the promotion and take-up of short-term project assignments that employees can apply to and complete alongside their day-to-day jobs.
As Arcadis’ leaders and managers gain better visibility of skills that exist in our business globally, we will start to better align talent to project and client needs. We’re carrying this out in a data-driven, equitable and transparent way. A greater understanding of the skills and capabilities of our workforce will also enable us to invest in the right skills for the future to become more competitive and attract talent to meet our evolving client needs.
Transitioning to an SPO is also a key enabler for us in fostering a more diverse, equitable, and inclusive culture that benefits all Arcadians. In 2024, Arcadis achieved its target of maintaining an employee Net Promoter Score (eNPS) in the top 25% in the professional services sector, and we believe we will further boost employee satisfaction as we continue to place skills at the heart of our strategy.
Broadening the scope of DEIB at Arcadis
Our target is to increase female representation to at least 40% by 2026. At the end of 2024, women made up 39.3% of our workforce; a 2% increase year-on-year. However, our diversity, equity, inclusion and belonging (DEIB) initiatives go far beyond gender representation. We are creating a more inclusive culture, fostering opportunities at every level and creating an environment where all employees feel empowered and supported, regardless of their background or identity.
Our five global Affinity Groups - Gender, Access & Neurodiversity, Ethnicity & Heritage, Age, and Pride - play a pivotal role. These groups provide vital platforms for advocacy, education, and connection, addressing unique needs while promoting awareness and understanding across our organization. They also actively shape strategic business decisions, ensuring our values are embedded at every level.
For example, our Global Sponsorship Program and our Global Women of Colour Program are key initiatives designed to bridge the representation gap and promote equity at all levels. We also have guides including Neurodiversity in the Workplace and Transitioning at Work, allowing us to continue breaking down barriers and building a culture of belonging. These efforts, coupled with targeted recruitment strategies and leadership development programs, enrich our talent pipeline, enhance employee satisfaction, and enable us to serve clients with diverse perspectives and expertise.
At Arcadis, DEIB is not just a goal - it’s a fundamental part of who we are.
Developing skills for the future
We are actively investing in the skills needed for today and tomorrow – and a prime example of how we’re doing this is our Energy Transition Academy, which has been established to further equip Arcadians with the skills needed to support clients in decarbonization, grid modernization, alternative energy infrastructure projects, and other aspects of energy security and transition. In a world where the demand for energy transition professionals far outweighs the current supply, our ambition is to train or recruit 2,500+ Arcadian energy experts by 2027 through a combination of foundational and technical training. This will ensure Arcadis has the capacity and capability to remain at the forefront of the global energy shift.
The Academy’s activities are tailored to a range of audiences, inside Arcadis and out. In our in-house online learning environment, ETA@Home, Arcadians have access to curated content and modules to build their energy transition skills. Meanwhile, at the Academy’s technical training workshops, Arcadians from different parts of the business are brought together with participants from client organizations and the industry to share their knowledge with each other.
The Academy has also established partnerships with 10 universities across India, the UK, the US, Australia and Europe to support cohorts of students studying energy transition-related topics while co-developing future course and learning material – ensuring a pipeline of talented potential employees. A major milestone in December was the launch of our cutting-edge Simulation Lab in Bangalore, India, in collaboration with RVCE and UVCE universities, focusing on Transmission, Distribution and Storage. This offers a hands-on opportunity for students to gain practical training and knowledge, with expert guidance from Arcadians. By upskilling and empowering ourselves and others in the field of energy transition, we are not only investing in our own growth but also in the collective future of our industry.
Delivering superior client outcomes through our Global Excellence Centers
Our Global Excellence Centers (GECs) in the Philippines, India, and Romania serve as key hubs to support our global project delivery for clients, enabling us to complete projects with agility and efficiency. Leveraging and building our talent pool to support our business globally is essential to Arcadis’ strategy, success and growth. The GEC teams support the key GBA market priorities and improve our client offerings with the best skillsets to deliver data-driven client services and support faster progress towards our industry’s decarbonization goals.
We set a target in our strategy to double the number of billable hours carried out via our GECs. We made solid progress towards this target in 2024, including by expanding our GEC workforce to 4,980 employees (+19%) and enhancing our capacity, connectivity and capabilities, unlocking benefits for clients across all GBAs and in all the countries where we operate.
The impact of the GEC teams’ expertise in data science, visualization and design automation – among other advanced capabilities – is evident in projects such as gigafactories, data centers and major rail projects, where they ensure seamless delivery, knowledge sharing and superior outcomes for our clients around the world. In 2025, we plan to continue enhancing these capabilities and delivering greater value to our clients from our GECs, reinforcing their pivotal role in our global strategy and position as Arcadis’ global knowledge and data hub. As the GECs handle a greater proportion of project execution, they will continue to amass a wealth of data and act as a knowledge hub, providing us with analysis and insights to effectively advise our clients and solve their complex problems.
